AM Feb 2020

TECHNOLOGY MATERIALS HANDLING VOLUME 112/1 | FEBRUARY 2020

CRUSHING & SCREENING

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TECHNOLOGY MATERIALS HANDLING VOLUME 112/1 | FEBRUARY 2020

CRUSHING & SCREENING

A NEW ERA BECKONS

THE FUTURE OF MINERALS PROCESSING

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COMMENT

A NEW SCOPE FOR INNOVATION EMERGES BEN CREAGH

Ben.Creagh@primecreative.com.au

AUSTRALIA IS FACING A SERIES OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES. WHAT DO THEY MEAN FOR MINING AND HOW CAN THE INDUSTRY RESPOND?

T

echnology and innovation have been consistent focus areas for mining and METS (mining equipment, technology and services) companies for several years now.

It has become a given that organisations prioritise both as part of their strategies for future expansion and prosperity.

As we settle into a new year, it will be interesting to observe how the status quo evolves and the next trends that emerge.

With drought and bushfires seriously impacting Australia, the broader issues that have captivated the country are set to dictate the 2020 agenda and the public narratives mining companies attempt to portray.

The bushfires in particular have been flagged as a wake-up call for Australia in the name of climate change.

In response, many Australians have looked for someone to blame, making mining potentially an easy target for social and climate activists.

We are commonly reminded that innovation in mining is not limited to technology projects.

The industry is also urged to be innovative in its efforts to appease social expectations.

Mining companies have, for example, improved the diversity and inclusiveness of their workforces to demonstrate a commitment to social responsibility.

But how will mining companies be innovative in response to the social demands that emerge following periods of drought and the bushfires?

Their ideas will need to be mindful

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER JOHN MURPHY PUBLISHER CHRISTINE CLANCY MANAGING EDITOR BEN CREAGH Tel: (03) 9690 8766 Email: ben.creagh@primecreative.com.au JOURNALISTS VANESSA ZHOU Tel: (03) 9690 8766 Email: vanessa.zhou@primecreative.com.au SALOMAE HASELGROVE Tel: (03) 9690 8766 Email: salomae.haselgrove@primecreative.com.au

of the changing expectations driven by climate change.

This effort has of course already been moving from an environmental standpoint long before bushfires raged throughout the country.

Mining companies have launched a number of renewable energy projects to reduce their carbon footprint, for instance.

They are overcoming the remoteness of their operations to take advantage of a natural environmental advantage like Australia’s abundance of sunlight.

New sources, such as hydrogen, are also being explored and invested in as a future avenue for the energy mix that powers Australia and our international trade partners.

Initiatives such as these don’t directly reduce the risk of bushfires and drought, but they do strengthen the response that mining is making.

How the industry plays a role is more important than ever due to the higher demands of it to be transparent about its activities.

It will take new ways of thinking, moving mining even further away from traditional impulses at a corporate level to keep these initiatives inside four walls.

The journey ahead for Australia will be challenging and mining should not underestimate the role it can play.

CLIENT SUCCESS MANAGER JANINE CLEMENTS Tel: (02) 9439 7227 Email: janine.clements@primecreative.com.au

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AUSTRALIANMINING

5

FEBRAURY 2020

In this edition, we look at the crushing and screening sector with an in-depth special on the companies shaping the future in this area.

In line with this edition’s minerals processing theme, Australian Mining talks to senior management from Metso ahead of the completion of its merger with Outotec.

This issue profiles Schenck Process Australia’s managing director Max Wijasuriya, who started in the role in the second half of 2019.

We also highlight initiatives being introduced by materials handling experts that are improving the efficiency of operations across Australia.

And as usual, we review the latest mining equipment and technology in our regular products spread.

Cover image: Metso.

Ben Creagh Managing Editor

DESIGN PRODUCTION MANAGER Michelle Weston michelle.weston@primecreative.com.au

FRONT COVER

PRIME CREATIVE MEDIA Suite 303, 1-9 Chandos Street Saint Leonards NSW 2065, Australia www.primecreative.com.au © Copyright Prime Creative Media, 2016 All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means without the written permission of the ­publisher.

PRINTED BY MANARK PRINTING 28 Dingley Ave Dandenong VIC 3175 Ph: (03) 9794 8337 Published 12 issues a year

CONTENTS REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT

INDUSTRY COMMENT

14-15

NSW GOLD FUTURE TAKE SHAPE East Lachlan hosts young and mature players

TIRELESS CHAMPIONS OF THE SECTOR What’s in store for Austmine and AusIMM

52-53 MINERALS PROCESSING

MATERIALS HANDLING

METSO AND OUTOTEC TO JOIN FORCES The birth of a minerals processing powerhouse

NO PRODUCT TOO BIG TO HANDLE A showcase of volume scanners and conveyor belts

16-18

54-59

21-22

61

COMMODITY SPOTLIGHT GOLD SOARS ABOVE CLIMATE CONCERNS The robustness of gold amid environmental changes

MINING EQUIPMENT AUSTRALIA A CHAMPION OF SUSTAINABILITY Hastings Deering reels in the Cat R2900 loader

PROFILE

FUTURE OF MINING

64

A CLOSER LOOK AT METS CHAMPIONS Interviews with Schenck Process and REMA TIP TOP leaders

ALL-ELECTRIFICATION IN NEW DECADE ABB uncovers the possibility of mine electrification

24-26

CRUSHING & SCREENING A BRIGHT FUTURE BECKONS Six companies put their innovations on the table

TYRE MANAGEMENT

28-38

KAL TIRE BRINGS INNOVATION TO EARTH’S CORE What tyre management services look like underground

65 INTERVIEW

TRAINING & EDUCATION

67

WORKERS OF TOMORROW Liebherr invests in apprenticeship program

XXL SHEDS MEETS EXTRA-SIZE DEMANDS A refuge for mining’s massive equipment needs

40 DIGITAL MINING

AUTOMATION

42-43

SANDVIK EQUIPMENT FIRES UP SYAMA Resolute pushes underground boundaries

LEAVING DATA ANXIETY BEHIND InEight Schedule tackles the grind

68 DRILL & BLAST

MEASUREMENT & MONITORING

DYNO NOBEL MAKES FUTURE SUSTAINABLE The other less known potential of automation

PDS GLOBAL SOLIDIFIES VISION What the past, present and future offers mining

69

44-45

TECHNOLOGY

71

UNDERGROUND MINING TURNS TRANSPARENT Miners hop Onboard Mobilaris technology

46-47

MINING INFRASTRUCTURE TURNING WATER INTO A CONTROLLABLE FORCE Crusader Hose translates mining expertise across industries

INTERNATIONAL

WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT

72-73

MITSUI’S STRONGLY HELD MODUS OPERANDI Ideals that transcend time and international borders

ASSET MANAGEMENT

ADAPTIVE RESOURCING FLESHES OUT DIVERSITY BENEFITS What small miners can do to create a diverse workforce

48-49

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

50-51

KLÜBER RISES ABOVE GREASY CHALLENGES Giving lubricants much-deserved treatment

75

LEADERS MAKE THE CASE FOR DIVERSITY Gold Industry Group forum debates the value of workforce diversity

REGULARS NEWS 9-12

PRODUCTS 76-77

AUSTRALIANMINING

6

EVENTS 78

FEBRUARY 2020

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Trademarks and service marks used herein are the property of Komatsu Ltd., Komatsu Mining Corp., or their respective owners or licensees.

NEWS

THE LATEST MINING AND SAFETY NEWS AUSTRALIAN MINING PRESENTS THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE BOARDROOM TO THE MINE AND EVERYWHERE IN BETWEEN. VISIT WWW.AUSTRALIANMINING.COM.AU TO KEEP UP TO DATE WITH WHAT IS HAPPENING. SARACEN AND NORTHERN STAR BECOME SUPER PIT OWNERS

AUSTRALIAN MINING GETS THE LATEST NEWS EVERY DAY, PROVIDING MINING PROFESSIONALS WITH UP TO THE MINUTE INFORMATION ON SAFETY, NEWS AND TECHNOLOGY FOR THE AUSTRALIAN MINING AND RESOURCES INDUSTRY.

THE KALGOORLIE SUPER PIT IS BACK IN AUSTRALIAN HANDS.

The Super Pit gold mine in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia has started the decade under new Australian ownership.

Saracen Mineral Holdings completed its acquisition of a half share of the Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (KCGM) joint venture by purchasing Barrick Gold’s stake for $US750 million ($1.1 billion) in December.

Saracen fulfilled its only condition to purchase the half stake in the Super Pit, which was to receive consent from the Western Australian Minister for Finance, Aboriginal Affairs and Lands.

The transaction was completed with a drawdown of $400 million under

a $450 million loan secured by the Perth-based mining company.

Northern Star Resources joined Saracen as owners of the historic site during January, acquiring the other 50 per cent interest, previously held by Newmont.

Its acquisition from Newmont was valued at $US800 million, with the Super Pit stake worth approximately $US775 million and other associated assets making up the remaining $US25 million.

As part of the transaction, Northern Star also had the option to obtain Newmont’s power business, which supplies power to KCGM. Saracen managing director Raleigh

Finlayson said completing the Super Pit acquisition marked a key milestone for the company’s growth strategy.

“The acquisition of a half-share of the Super Pit transforms Saracen into one of Australia’s leading gold producers,” Finlayson said.

“We now have three long-life assets generating strong cash flow in a Tier 1 location. Each asset also has outstanding exploration potential, providing scope to create further value for shareholders through organic growth.”

Saracen has already formed senior management committees and provided senior site operational

personnel at the mine.

Northern Star executive chairman Bill Beament said the acquisition met the company’s objective of growing its gold inventory from Tier 1 mines in Tier 1 locations.

“This acquisition comes with huge upside due to the combination of the world-class nature of the gold system and the respective skill sets of Northern Star and Saracen,” Beament said.

“I am delighted that we will be able to pool our skills and experience to create substantial value for our shareholders and the local community through both mine development and exploration.”

NRW RENAMES BGC CONTRACTING AFTER ACQUISITION NRW Holdings has bought BGC Contracting in a transformational deal that gave the target an enterprise value of $310 million.

Perth-based NRW marked the completion of the acquisition by changing BGC’s name in December, rebranding the Len Buckeridge company to NRW Contracting.

NRW chief executive Jules Pemberton said the acquisition aligned with the company’s objective to further diversify its revenues and

enhance shareholder returns.

Pemberton welcomed the completion of the transaction, along with BGC’s 2300 strong workforce, who joined the team at NRW following the sale.

“BGC Contracting has a wellrecognised and proud history built around the strong foundations set by the late Len Buckeridge,” Pemberton said.

“With an excellent track record supported by diversified earnings

AUSTRALIANMINING

base, extensive fleet and a long history with several highprofile clients, the acquisition is strategically and financially compelling and aligns with NRW’s objective to deliver growth across the business and drive NRW shareholder value.

“Together with our combined workforce of around 6000 people supporting more than 100 projects around Australia, we are well placed to offer a diverse range of services

9

FEBRUARY 2020

and project solutions to clients across the infrastructure, resources, industrial engineering, maintenance and urban sectors.”

NRW and BGC Contracting have a combined order book of around $1.5 billion, including $700 million scheduled in the 2020 financial year.

The buyer kept a share purchase plan open to eligible shareholders until January to help fund the $116.4 million acquisition.

NEWS

MIKE HENRY TAKES HELM AS BHP CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Mike Henry has this year replaced Andrew Mackenzie as chief executive officer of BHP. Prior to becoming CEO, Henry was BHP president operations minerals Australia, a role he had held since 2016. He has also been a member of BHP’s executive leadership team since 2011.

The new CEO started his career with BHP in 2003, overseeing business development at BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), before embarking on various other roles within the company, including marketing, trading and ocean freight operations.

Henry later became BHP president coal, president health, safety, environment (HSE), marketing and technology, and chief marketing officer.

His career at BHP has been built on his experience in the resources industry in Canada, Japan and Australia.

BHP chairman Ken MacKenzie said Henry’s deep operational and commercial experience, developed in a global career spanning the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia, was the perfect mix for the company’s next chief executive.

“I am confident his discipline and focus will deliver a culture of high performance and returns for BHP,” Ken MacKenzie said.

“Henry has been a strong advocate for the industry,

driving higher standards of safety and a commitment to our local communities and global stakeholders.”

Henry also assumed the role of executive director at BHP after Andrew Mackenzie retired on December 31 last year.

Ken MacKenzie acknowledged Andrew Mackenzie’s outstanding contribution as CEO. “Under his leadership, BHP has transformed into a simpler and more productive company, financially strong and sharply focussed on value for shareholders. We thank him for his vision and hard work, which has changed the way we operate and engage with the world,” Ken MacKenzie said.

Andrew Mackenzie, who was CEO of BHP since 2013, said it had been a privilege to serve as chief executive.

“BHP is in a good position. We have a simple portfolio, a strong balance sheet and options to grow value and returns for decades to come,” Andrew Mackenzie said.

“Fresh leadership will deliver an acceleration in the enormous potential for value and returns that will come from BHP’s next wave of transformation.”

Henry said after more than 130 years of history, BHP was an even safer, more predictable and more focussed company today.

“We will unlock even greater value

MIKE HENRY STARTED AS BHP CEO IN JANUARY.

from our ore bodies and petroleum basins by enabling our people with

the capability, data and technology to innovate and improve,” Henry said.

KIRKLAND LAKE GEARS UP FOR FOSTERVILLE 2.0 Kirkland Lake Gold’s exploration at the Fosterville mine has uncovered high-grade mineralisation that is showing potential for a second mine at Victoria’s largest gold site.

The drilling at Robbin’s Hill had a key intercept of 24.5 grams per tonne of gold over 3.7 metres, identifying a large mineralised system.

Kirkland Lake president and chief executive Tony Makuch said the presence of visible gold (VG) in quartz unearthed at Robbin’s Hill compared favourably to levels seen at the existing Fosterville mine at similar elevations.

“For a long time, we’ve been saying that there could be more Fostervilles

at Fosterville,” Makuch said.

“Robbin’s Hill has clearly emerged as a second potential mining front to provide feed to our Fosterville mill.

“The presence of VG in quartz and 500 metre down-plunge inspection of Robbin’s Hill mineralisation highlight the potential for future discoveries of high-grade, VG-

bearing zones at similar depth to Swan and Eagle at Fosterville’s Lower Phoenix system.”

The results came from 66 holes drilled to 36,428 metres.

Other drilling activities at Robbin’s Hill include six surface diamond drills targeting mineralisation along the Curie Fault.

OZ MINERALS STARTS PRODUCTION AT CARRAPATEENA OZ Minerals has produced its first saleable copper-gold concentrate at the Carrapateena mine in South Australia.

This achievement met the 2019 fourth quarter schedule mapped out by OZ Minerals’ board in 2017.

OZ Minerals stockpiled over 280,000 tonnes of development ore on the surface ahead of a plan for the mine to enter a faster 12-month ramp up to

a 4.25 million tonne a year throughput rate.

Chief executive Andrew Cole said OZ Minerals’ key operational focus remained on underground development as it ramped up the mine.

“The streamlined mine design with an expanded footprint will improve cave establishment, reduce risk during the ramp-up phase and may enable AUSTRALIANMINING

future annual throughput expansion opportunities as we continue to assess options to expand capacity above 4.25 million tonnes annually,” Cole said.

“We have already commenced a block cave expansion scoping study looking at increasing both the life and production capacity of Carrapateena from 2025.”

OZ Minerals expects production to be in

10

FEBRUARY 2020

the range of 20,000 to 25,000 tonnes of copper, and 35,000 to 40,000 ounces of gold at an expected cost of $US1.80–$2 a pound ($2.59–$2.88) in 2020.

The Adelaide-based company is also constructing a 50-kilometre Western Access Road and will complete its conveyor installation and crusher one at Carrapateena.

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NEWS

NATIONAL GROUP EXPANDS FLEET TO SIX CAT D11 DOZERS THE CAT D11 DOZER IN ACTION.

National Group has secured five of the Cat D11 next generation dozers off the production line.

The machines will arrive in the coming months, adding to the Cat D11 dozer that is already working at BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA)’s Blackwater coal operations in Queensland.

According to National Group managing director Mark Ackroyd, the D11 is the industry’s best large dozer so it was a logical choice for the company to bring in six new dozers to add to its expansive fleet.

BMA is also set to commission the second D11 dozer at the Blackwater

coal mine in the coming weeks.

The D11 will extend out component life from fuel burn to overhaul, along with load sensing hydraulics reducing fuel burn.

Caterpillar has developed this machine to ensure faster cycle times to produce more dirt at a lower cost per tonne.

Ackroyd said the contribution the dozers would add to production and efficiency would boost overall performance on site.

“We expect to lower maintenance and repair costs by up to 5 per cent thanks to a new case and frame design, improved bearings, redesigned pin joints, and a 30 per cent larger oil pan,” he said.

Ackroyd said the team at National Group prided itself on having the best equipment available for clients.

“Securing the first ever Cat D11 Dozer in the world is a testament to this,” Ackroyd said.

“Cat machines and engines are widely recognised as premium products and known for superior quality and reliability.”

Hastings Deering mining account manager Jason Garea said Ackroyd was committed to innovation and technology.

“The D11 dozer has integrated technologies built into it, including terrain, which makes for more accuracy on job sites which will ultimately reduce rework,” Garea said. “(Ackroyd) has lined up all six dozers to be fitted with the new reclamation blade, or XU Blade which takes it from a 34 cubic metre blade, to a 42.2 cubic metres blade.”

ROY HILL COMMITS TO SECOND PENTIUM HYDRO RIG Roy Hill has ordered a second rig from Vysarn subsidiary Pentium Hydro for the Western Australian iron ore mine.

The estimated value of the purchase order is around $1.3 million and is part of Pentium’s general works contract awarded by Roy Hill in November last year.

Pentium expects to complete the

order within three to four months of mobilisation, starting from the end of January.

Managing director Sheldon Burt said Pentium was pleased with the award of the additional work from Roy Hill.

“The work program is consistent with the company’s rig utilisation forecasts… The award of this work

further strengthens the company’s strategy as a premium dewatering service provider specifically to Tier 1 mining clients,” Burt said.

“We are pleased that the Pentium service offering is being considered so soon following the acquisition of the drilling assets in August 2019 and we look forward to continuing to build relationships in the industry.”

Under the Roy Hill contract, Pentium is responsible for dual rotary and reverse circulation bore drilling services, minor civil earthworks or rotary air and conventional drilling services.

Roy Hill is a 55 million tonne a year iron ore mining, rail and port operation based in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

LYNAS TO ERECT RARE EARTHS PLANT IN KALGOORLIE Lynas Corporation has selected Kalgoorlie, Western Australia as the home for its cracking and leaching plant for rare earth minerals processing.

This is the first step to making the historic mining town, which is known as the gold capital of Australia, a critical minerals hub.

The Goldfields city was one of two finalists being considered as a location for the plant. It was selected due to its close proximity to Lynas’ Mt Weld mine and Kalgoorlie’s existing

skilled workforce, and history in the mining and processing industries.

The cracking and leaching plant project is expected to create around 500 construction jobs and 200 ongoing jobs in Kalgoorlie once approval processes are finalised.

Mt Weld’s rare earth concentrate is currently exported to Malaysia for processing, but the cracking and leaching plant is a further step to advance the Australian Government’s critical minerals strategy.

The project will help the Western AUSTRALIANMINING

Australian Government achieve its objective for more downstream processing and allow Lynas to explore opportunities for next stage upstream solvent extraction processing.

Lynas has signed an option to sublease an industrial zoned property from the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, with the terms of the lease now being finalised.

Chief executive and managing director Amanda Lacaze said Lynas was excited to establish the plant in Kalgoorlie and contribute to the city’s

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FEBRUARY 2020

economic development.

“Kalgoorlie is a terrific city and an ideal location for our new cracking and leaching plant,” she said.

“Lynas was built from the ground up as an environmentally responsible rare earths producer and we will take the same approach for our facility in Kalgoorlie.”

As well as diversifying Kalgoorlie’s production and employment options, Lynas will upskill miners, chemists and engineers of the future by working with tertiary students.

REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT

EAST LACHLAN GUIDES FUTURE NSW GOLD POTENTIAL NESTLED BETWEEN TWO HIGHLY MINERALISED VOLCANIC BELTS, THE UNIQUE GEOMETRY OF THE EAST LACHLAN REGION IN NEW SOUTH WALES CONTINUES TO PROVE ITS WORLD-CLASS ATTRIBUTES. SALOMAE HASELGROVE WRITES.

W

ithin the Junee Narromine and Molong volcanic belts in the East Lachlan region lies a chemical rock sequence with the intrusion of various magmas that create a highly prospective copper-gold mineralisation.

These deposits have proven promise for a range of different gold mineralisation styles, including orogenic, porphyry, skarn and volcanogenic massive sulphide.

While there are similar mineralisation types across northern Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the west coasts of North and South America, the East Lachlan is different in age and chemistry, making it globally unique.

Both belts are already home to world-class assets; the Molong belt hosts Newcrest Mining’s Cadia Valley mine and the Junee Narromine belt is home to Evolution Mining’s Cowal gold operation.

Since acquiring Cowal in 2015, Evolution Mining has produced more than 1.1 million ounces, generated more than $600 million in cash flow and extended the mine life by eight years to 2032.

The mine has also continued to evolve, with Evolution committing to an underground project at the site.

Evolution chairman Jake Klein says the unique properties of the East Lachlan region support the move to add an underground component to the Cowal operation.

Simultaneous open pit and underground mining is on the

horizon for Cowal as Evolution grows production at the mine, according to Klein.

“The discovery of the 1.4 millionounce GRE46 and Dalwhinnie underground resource is a key part of our strategy to sustainably grow Cowal’s annual production above 300,000,” Klein tells Australian Mining.

“We’re still in the process of fully understanding how a future underground operation will integrate with the current open pit.

“However, it’s clear the inclusion of higher grade underground ore into the mining schedule has potential, along with the processing plant expansion to 8.7 million tonnes per annum, to lift future annual output.”

The unique makeup of the East Lachlan’s porphyry mineralisation is

MAGMATIC RESOURCES EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN DAVID RICHARDSON.

what makes it possible for Evolution to branch into this innovative style of mining above and below ground, EVOLUTION MINING’S COWAL GOLD MINE.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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FEBRUARY 2020

REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT

allowing operations to continue while the changeover period takes place.

In addition to giving Evolution an opportunity to mine in new ways, the East Lachlan geology and deepseated structures provide a fertile environment for new discoveries, even in the more mature areas like Cowal.

Alkane Resources is starting to realise the extent of the potential with the exciting discovery of the Boda prospect, which the company dubbed as “Cadia style results”.

Since acquiring the Boda prospect from Rio Tinto in 1992, Alkane has completed years of geology, geochemistry and geophysical research, leading to the discovery of the Kaiser Boda area that has been the company’s core focus for the past three years.

After drilling approximately 300 metres north of the Kaiser target, Alkane drilled a diamond hole that showed mineralisation occurring deeper and stronger within a pyrite stringer vein.

The company then drilled beneath the original reverse circulation (RC) hole where it identified one of its most exciting discoveries to date last September.

Alkane technical director and former managing director Ian Chalmers believes there are potentially more Bodas waiting to be discovered and has high hopes for the next campaign of drilling.

“If you’ve got these sorts of deposits floating around in the region, you know that there’s potential to find more of them,” Chalmers says.

“That’s what makes the region so prospective.

“In the Boda area, we’ve got a target zone that’s maybe 10 to 12 kilometres long, where we think there is a chance for more repetitions of a Boda-type mineralisation.”

Alkane has been busy with followup drilling over the Christmas and New Year period, with plans for five core holes north and south of the Boda discovery hole.

“We’ve also planned to put another deeper hole under the existing system to take a look and try to understand what the strike extent is,” Chalmers says.

In addition to porphyry models, Alkane is also exploring for orogenic gold prospects at the Tomingley gold project and epithermal gold at Peak Hill.

“It was quite a bit of jigsaw puzzle science and investigation that ultimately led us to drill that hole and that’s led us to the Boda discovery,” Chalmers says.

“We’re a relatively small company, but for us to have the ability to find

ALKANE RESOURCES EXPLORING TO FIND THE NEXT BODA PROSPECT IN THE EAST LACHLAN.

I LOVE THE EAST LACHLAN, IT’S TIER 1 COUNTRY IN A TIER 1 REGION AND MORE IS OUT THERE WAITING TO BE DISCOVERED.” something with similar prospectivity to Cadia was really important.”

If Boda is the younger sister of Cadia, then Magmatic Resources has high hopes for its Lady Ilse project, which it has described as being a lookalike of Boda.

When Alkane announced the Boda discovery, Magmatic executive chairman David Richardson and explorations manager Steven Oxenberg decided to take a closer look at the company’s four targets in the region.

Looking closer at the nature of the Molong belt and at some of Alkane’s research from the past decade, Magmatic learned the importance of having a prospect set on alkalic intrusive rocks.

After taking a closer look at the targets, seeing the presence of gold, copper, bismuth, tellurium and arsenic, Magmatic recognised the full potential of what was being explored.

“Our team went back to our targets, reinterpreted our geochemistry and found out our four targets were all on these alkalic intrusives,” Richardson explains. “So, we’ve got four targets

AUSTRALIANMINING

EVOLUTION MINING’S COWAL OPERATIONS IN THE EAST LACHLAN REGION OF NSW.

that look very similar to Boda.”

Learning from the success of Alkane before it, Magmatic is also planning its exploration drilling within its own Lady Ilse prospect, modelled upon how Alkane drilled to unearth the Boda mineralisation.

Like Alkane, when Magmatic drills Lady Ilse, possibly as soon as this month, it intends to drill 100-metre RC holes then a diamond hole beneath, in the hope of finding similar results.

With Australian dollar gold prices in record territory, it is a good time to be a producer or explorer of the precious metal in a promising region like East

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FEBRUARY 2020

Lachlan.

Nearby, at Cadia Valley, Newcrest Mining produced a whopping 912,777 ounces of gold in the 2018-19 financial year.

The Cadia operation has become a top producer of the precious metal in Australia and has potential to become even larger if Newcrest’s growth ambitions at the site are any guide.

“Big discoveries like those in the East Lachlan are hard to find, so that will only continue to support a strong gold price. I love the East Lachlan, it’s Tier 1 country in a Tier 1 region and more is out there waiting to be discovered,” Richardson concludes. AM

MINERALS PROCESSING

WHAT A METSO MINERALS PROCESSING OPERATIONS CENTRE COULD LOOK LIKE.

AUTONOMOUS PROCESSING EMERGES AS METSO JOINS FORCES WITH OUTOTEC METSO AND OUTOTEC ARE ON THE VERGE OF COMBINING INTO A MINERALS PROCESSING POWERHOUSE. BEN CREAGH EXPLORES WHAT THIS, ALONG WITH METSO’S VISION FOR AUTONOMOUS MINERAL PROCESSING, MEANS FOR MINING.

M

etso is gearing up for a transformational year in 2020 as the company moves through the final stages of combining with Outotec.

In July last year, the two companies announced that they

planned to merge to create a leading global mineral processing company.

While some in the industry were surprised by the proposed tie-up, many others saw it as a logical move that was well overdue.

To close the transaction, Metso and Outotec will move through a complex approvals process towards formalising the merger, which is AUSTRALIANMINING

expected to take place in the second quarter of 2020.

It is anticipated that the proposed merger will leverage the combined strengths of both companies, including technology, research and development, product and processing excellence, as well as extensive aftermarket service capabilities.

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FEBRUARY 2020

Metso Outotec will also aim to take advantage of its presence in a large number of geographical markets, as well as its knowledge across a range of mineral processing applications, particularly copper and high-growth minerals used in battery technology.

Stephan Kirsch’s appointment as global president of Metso’s mining

MINERALS PROCESSING

THEY ARE SCARED ABOUT THEIR JOBS, BUT IT DOESN’T TAKE AWAY THEIR JOB – IT MAKES IT MORE INTERESTING FOR THE PERSON.” equipment business area was announced soon after the planned merger was revealed.

Perth-based Kirsch, who is responsible for Metso’s entire mineral processing equipment portfolio, started his new job with a strong understanding of the probable implications of the combination, having joined the company a year earlier.

Up until his latest appointment, Kirsch had been Metso’s global senior vice president, business and product management in the mining equipment business area.

“Having already been with Metso for a year provided me with a good understanding of how Metso’s mining business area operated. This gave me a head start, so my analysis period was quite short,” Kirsch tells Australian Mining.

The first priority

Kirsch’s focus is squarely on Metso’s mining clients, reassuring them that until the transaction has completed, it is ‘business as usual’

as the company focusses on catering to the needs and satisfaction of its customers.

“My focus is on customer centricity – that is the key,” Kirsch says. “Why customer centricity?

At the end of the day, we are in business to provide services, supply equipment and bring innovations to our customers that make a big difference to the performance of their business.”

Kirsch expects the tie-up will be complementary given the two companies’ contrasting expertise, which they will integrate into a mineral processing powerhouse.

Metso is widely recognised at the dry minerals processing end of the market in crushing, screening and milling equipment, as well as pyro technology and tailings management systems.

Outotec, on the other hand, has established a strong reputation as specialists in wet processing disciplines, such as hydrometallurgy, flotation, filtration and downstream metal processing.

METSO MINING EQUIPMENT BUSINESS AREA GLOBAL PRESIDENT STEPHAN KIRSCH.

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MINERALS PROCESSING

IT IS A MATTER OF GETTING A BETTER GRIP ON THE PROCESS. IS ADVANCED PROCESS CONTROL THE WAY TO GO? OR SHOULD WE ADD INTELLIGENT EQUIPMENT, OR SHOULD WE ADD AI? YOU CAN MAKE THESE DECISIONS WHEN YOU KNOW WHICH MATURITY LEVEL YOU ARE AT.” Kirsch believes that mining companies and EPCMs (engineering, procurement and construction management providers) will benefit from the merger by having a broader range of expertise in both areas of processing at their disposal from the one supplier.

An autonomous future

Metso’s ambitions include helping its customers on their journey to autonomous mineral processing operations.

In contrast to areas like surface haulage, the move towards autonomous operation has been limited in minerals processing applications to this point. But that’s not to say it isn’t possible.

Metso chief digital officer Jani Puroranta believes there are great benefits to be gained by aiming for what he calls “full autonomy”.

Puroranta says full plant autonomy requires an interplay of advanced process control augmented with new sensors and analysers; highly skilled operators aided by artificial intelligence (AI) and supported by remote domain experts; hifidelity, dynamic, real-time process simulation (digital twin); and 100 per cent predictive maintenance, with no unplanned shutdowns.

“I think it’s a big change management issue,” Puroranta tells Australian Mining.

“You can add software to a plant, but it is very hard to educate people and get them to change. If you don’t educate people and centrally change their behaviour it is not going to stick.”

Puroranta has led Metso’s development of a five-level framework that aims to guide mining companies towards fully autonomous plant by 2050.

The framework starts with regulatory controls and progresses through advanced process control, intelligent equipment, analytics and AI, and full autopilot (autonomy).

Apart from a few rare exceptions, usually sites operated by major global miners, Puroranta believes the industry’s maturity is mostly at level one.

The majority of companies have either not properly executed level

one, he adds, or have lost their way by not taking an orderly approach when moving through the five steps.

“If they are at a basic level and struggling with automation, we can add sensors – we could do that to a crusher for example,” Puroranta says.

“I think many companies are struggling to maintain level one.

There is a lot of work involved in maintaining this level, but you can’t stop there because it’s the most basic stage.”

Partnership focus

Metso works with its mining customers interested in realising the benefits of fully autonomous plant to analyse which level of the framework they are at and which direction to move in next.

Puroranta says it is vital for Metso to understand where an operator’s “pain points” are, whether it is in crushing, screening, grinding, flotation or another part of processing.

“It is a matter of getting a better grip on the process. Is advanced process control the way to go? Or should we add intelligent equipment, or should we add AI? You can make these decisions when you know which maturity level you are at,” Puroranta says.

“Then we can start figuring out the solution. It is usually a combination of things – it is not just one thing. You might want to try many things at the same time.”

Despite the perception that autonomous plant means fewer people are required to manage an operation, Puroranta says human workers have never been more important.

He believes how mining companies integrate people into projects will determine how successful they will be.

“That is the biggest part that you need to address and sometimes people don’t know that is what it’s all about,” Puroranta says.

“They are scared about their jobs, but it doesn’t take away their job – it makes it more interesting for the person.”

Projects to implement the autonomous operation of processing plants are best suited to brownfields AUSTRALIANMINING

METSO CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER JANI PURORANTA.

operations, another notable difference when compared with projects for underground operations or haul trucks.

Metso is able to identify the “pain points” at a brownfields operation by working with its customer, making it easier to know where to apply the framework and focus investment.

In contrast, with greenfields projects there is a risk to overinvest in automation and complicate the broader operation by moving deep into the framework when there’s no need to.

Even with the huge potential benefits that autonomous operations can bring to a processing plant, Puroranta backs Metso’s conservative view that urges the industry to develop a vision for autonomy by 2050.

“Advanced process control is level two and that has been around for more than 20 years,” Puroranta says.

“It has been rolled out since at least the 1980s and it isn’t yet mainstream in the industry today – there are a lot of companies still thinking about it.

“That’s taken more than 30 years to implement, so I think another 30 years is a more realistic timeframe (for full autonomy). I would hope that in the next 10 years we have gone a fair way.”

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Integration of capabilities

With the transformation to full autonomy some years away, Metso’s immediate focus will be on how the company’s capabilities integrate with Outotec’s following completion of the merger.

Kirsch believes Metso’s unrivalled services footprint and strengths as an aftersales service provider will deliver new benefits to owners of Outotec equipment once the merger is approved.

“Over the years, Metso has developed a broad service footprint with a network of strategically located service centres close to our customers,” Kirsch says.

“Our teams provide specialist workshop and field services that bring together our extensive knowhow with Life Cycle Services (LCS), including original OEM spare parts and consumables.

“This capability will be extended to all of our customers going forward. This is an area where they can benefit from our reliable, well established services.

“I’m really excited about this opportunity because both companies are very knowledgeable, so experienced, and well known in the market for quality products and services. We complement one another extremely well.” AM

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COMMODITY SPOTLIGHT

ALL THAT IS GOLD GLITTERS WORLD GOLD COUNCIL DIRECTOR JOHN MULLIGAN PROBES INTO GOLD’S ROBUSTNESS AMID THREATS OF CLIMATE CHANGE, THE GLOBAL TRANSITION TO RENEWABLES AND THE BOOMING ASIAN ECONOMY. AND THE OUTLOOK IS LOOKING GOOD.

T

he Australian dollar gold price leapt to new heights on the back of global uncertainty surrounding the United States–China trade wars in 2019.

With the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA’s) move to cut interest rates to record low levels in 2019, gold has once again become a safe haven for investors.

This was the purchasing trend of last year, but it primarily applies to institutional investors and central banks. Their move away from the

American dollar has led to record buying that the market hasn’t seen in decades.

World Gold Council director of market and member relations John Mulligan says institutional investors have returned to gold at a promising time.

“You can see this in central bank buying,” Mulligan tells Australian Mining at the 2019 International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC).

“Some of them are buying based on policy reasons to avoid risks in

OUR ANALYSIS, WHICH WE PRODUCED IN COLLABORATION WITH AN INDEPENDENT RESEARCH CONSULTANCY, SHOWS THAT IF YOU’RE MANAGING A PORTFOLIO AND CHOOSING AMONG INVESTMENT OPTIONS, SUCH AS EQUITIES, BONDS AND PROPERTY, GOLD WILL LIKELY EMERGE TO BE A MORE STABLE ASSET THROUGH TO 2030, 2050 AND 2100, AND ACROSS THE FOUR IPCC (INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE) GLOBAL WARMING SCENARIOS OF 1.5, 2, 3 AND 4 DEGREES CELSIUS (ABOVE PRE-INDUSTRIAL LEVELS).”

the global economy and, particularly, prospects in the United States.”

Investors also revived their interest as the gold price increase, including its Australian dollar value which reached record highs, according to Mulligan.

In late August, gold broke though sideways trading of between $US1100–$US1350 ($1623.7–$1992.75), that had persisted for a few years, to reach close to $US1550 an ounce.

To Mulligan, this not just a currency issue but also reflects gold’s wider use as a risk management asset. It therefore makes it surprising that gold remains a deeply underinvested product among institutional investors, such as pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and endowments.

The world’s total gold investment hovers just around 1–2 per cent of global assets under management, with most institutional investors not yet looking at the precious metal, according to Mulligan.

This might become problematic for the immediate gold price, which is currently driven by one thing, and that is institutional investment.

But investors are becoming aware of a wider set of risk factors. One of the issues that might lead to further investor reappraisal of gold is its potential strength in the face of

GOLD IS FORECAST TO BE MORE ROBUST THAN OTHER INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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JOHN MULLIGAN.

climate-related physical and transition risks.

World Gold Council, in its research report ‘Gold and climate change: Current and future impacts’, states that gold will likely be far more robust than nearly all other mainstream asset classes.

“Our analysis, which we produced in collaboration with an independent research consultancy, shows that

COMMODITY SPOTLIGHT

THE SUPER PIT GOLD OPERATIONS IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA.

if you’re managing a portfolio and choosing among investment options, such as equities, bonds and property, gold will likely emerge to be a more stable asset through to 2030, 2050 and 2100, and across the four IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) global warming scenarios of 1.5, 2, 3 and 4 degrees Celsius (above pre-industrial levels),” Mulligan says.

“If you look at extreme physical risks, a lot of the soft commodities and other metals may likely be impacted because they are concentrated in specific regions, making them dependent on factors such as local weather and shipping.

“But gold isn’t as exposed to these climate-related physical risks because gold mining is spread across the world and, in many instances, is already starting to plan to build robustness into local operations.”

Gold is evolving from being a financial risk management asset, to also potentially emerge as a climate risk management tool.

The commodity will still feel the headwinds amid the industry’s transition to renewables, but not to the degree of other assets, such as the world’s largest global equity market, US equities.

Gold has also shown resilience in operating in inhospitable conditions, such as those of a remote operation.

“Compared to other sectors, gold mining is actually not in a bad place because the vast majority of its emissions are related to purchased electricity or from fuel and energy use on-site,” Mulligan says.

“And as renewable technologies are scaling up and becoming far more cost-effective, they’ll be competitive to the point where they might save companies money in future decades.

There is a cost benefit to move into renewables.”

Companies may eventually find themselves “out of the money” if they commit to large-scale diesel generators or the incumbent technology now, compared with investing in renewables, according to Mulligan.

This remains likely even if the substantial initial capital outlay for renewables is considered.

As the gold mining sector makes its move to renewables, the transition might also benefit local communities.

They may have access to clean energy that would otherwise not be available to them, Mulligan adds.

“All the gold mining companies AUSTRALIANMINING

ALL THE GOLD MINING COMPANIES THAT THE WORLD GOLD COUNCIL HAS SPOKEN TO, WHICH ARE TOGETHER REPRESENTATIVE OF OVER 50 PER CENT OF THE WORLD’S FORMAL GOLD PRODUCTION, HAVE BEEN VERY SUPPORTIVE OF THE POTENTIAL USE OF RENEWABLES.” that the World Gold Council has spoken to, which together represent more than 50 per cent of the world’s formal gold production, have been very supportive of the potential use of renewables,” Mulligan says.

“Most of them are already taking action in this direction. And for a developing economy that never had the substantial legacy commitment to fossil fuel-generated electricity grids, it might leapfrog and consider new technologies straight away. You don’t have to consider decommissioning.”

The challenge is for developing economies and policy environments to embrace and support sustaining economic growth, but also to encourage the construction of renewable infrastructure, Mulligan says.

While it might be challenging in some countries, Mulligan believes

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progress will need change in the global policy environment and international cooperation to facilitate the world’s move away from fossil fuel dependence.

Many of the key countries will also be those driving the increase in consumer demand for gold in the future.

“The force driving gold’s longterm demand are the big, growing economies of the world,” Mulligan continues.

“These include China, India, and potentially, the neighbouring economies of Vietnam and Indonesia.”

“They are not only the most populous nations in the world, but will also become the single, strongest longterm driver of gold thanks to their growing income levels. And in this way, gold will also be a proxy for Asia’s economic development.” AM

elts

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The first 60 years of the Superpit was celebrated in 1953 with a cartoon of the ‘YATES’ Universal Miner, capturing the essence of innovation in safe and efficient mine processing, transport and integrated systems .... and 67 years on .... the driving force lives on!

Here are a few samples in Mineral Processing. Maybe you should find out a bit more on how to improve your bottom line benefits!

It starts here .... Donald YATES CEO / Group 08 9379 9479, columbus-innovation @ iinet.net.au 10 Thompson Rd, Success Hill WA 6054 Australia

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PROFILE SCHENCK PROCESS HAS DEVELOPED A CHANGE OUT TOOL CALLED PROLIFT.

MAX MAKES HIS MARK WITH SCHENCK PROCESS RETURN FOR EVERYTHING THAT HAS CHANGED IN THE MINING INDUSTRY OVER THE PAST DECADE MAX WIJASURIYA CAN FIND SOMETHING THAT HAS STAYED THE SAME AT SCHENCK PROCESS. BEN CREAGH EXPLAINS.

W

hen Max Wijasuriya started as Schenck Process Australia’s managing director in August last year it didn’t take him long to feel comfortable in the role.

The company’s diverse product range and service expertise across a number of industries are not new to Wijasuriya, who spent two-and-a-half years as Schenck Process’ director of sales and marketing up until 2011.

Wijasuriya’s familiarity with Schenck Process’ screens, feeders and train load out systems may have quickly grounded him on his return, but he has also noticed that the company has developed significantly along with the evolution of mining.

Much has changed in the industry since Wijasuriya’s previous stint – the boom has come and gone, and resources companies have increasingly shifted their focus to innovation, technology and collaboration.

For Wijasuriya, the attention on these three areas reflects the direction he hoped mining would be moving in by now.

“It is my second time here so I am familiar with the products. Things have obviously progressed, but it was somewhere I could hit the ground running,” Wijasuriya tells Australian Mining.

“The one thing that hasn’t changed is that it is a great company with great technology and people, and it’s exciting to see how the technology has moved.”

Wijasuriya’s first priority as MD of Schenck Process has been to develop an understanding of what the company is doing well and what it needs to do better.

He has focussed on integrating the skills of the multi-faceted Australian team and how the knowledge of one business area can be leveraged by others.

Importantly, the push for innovative products and services has continued to take precedence so the company is positioned to meet the modern demands of mining and other industries.

Wijasuriya is unashamedly passionate about innovation, a value that he predicts will be infectious among his Schenck Process colleagues.

AUSTRALIANMINING

“What’s become apparent to me when working with people in our business is that my passion for innovation is shared by many of them,” Wijasuriya says.

“The narrative around innovation and collaboration in mining, that’s changed in a good way. If you look back five or six years, the challenging conversations were being had, but people were still looking at being the CONIQ CONDITION MONITORING INSTALLED AT AN AUSTRALIAN MINE.

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FEBRUARY 2020

first to be second.

“Now mining companies are challenging themselves, they are challenging their suppliers and they are challenging us to look at things differently and to do things better.”

Wijasuriya stresses it is essential for Schenck Process to be innovative if the company wants to be considered as a partner for miners that are developing digital operations.

PROFILE

WHAT’S BECOME APPARENT TO ME WHEN WORKING WITH PEOPLE IN OUR BUSINESS IS THAT MY PASSION FOR INNOVATION IS SHARED BY MANY OF THEM.”

SCHENCK PROCESS MANAGING DIRECTOR MAX WIJASURIYA.

He highlights ways that Schenck Process has achieved this, such as the CONiQ condition monitoring device for screening machines and vibrating feeders.

CONiQ, a system based on the latest sensor technology and analytical software, makes it possible for minerals processing teams to detect future faults before they happen.

“As you move to the digital mine the strategy is to focus on high efficiency, automation and safety, and using those digital technologies alongside our process knowledge,” Wijasuriya says.

“For some of our products that means adding sensors or controls.

The sensors have to be accurate and reliable, the controls have to be faster, more intelligent and able to be

optimised further. Then we can use ongoing data analysis as the basis for the algorithms for our controls.

“We’re also bringing into play smart service solutions that reduce shutdown and maintenance times but also achieve safety and efficiency targets.

“Things like our ProLift Train Load Out (TLO) chute change system, which apart from improving safety around this activity, have also unlocked the potential for 290,000 tonnes of additional productivity per year.”

Schenck Process is leveraging the technologies the company uses on projects in other industries to enhance what it offers mining in this way.

The company has also structured its employee base to support the emergence of these technologies and innovations.

Wijasuriya believes the mix of people throughout the entire mining industry has changed, something he has also noticed within Schenck Process’ workforce.

“I think as these new tools develop

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the mix of people and the skills they will need is going to develop – it is a natural part of the industry,” Wijasuriya says.

“If you look back at the industry even 20 years ago, the mining or service engineer was much different to now.

“It will be the same in five years’ time because I see things moving very quickly as the speed of development starts to accelerate – I think that is a great thing.”

This combination of elements sets the scene for a period of growth potential for Schenck Process as Wijasuriya moves through his first full year as MD in 2020.

But Wijasuriya remains under no illusions about delivering on this opportunity.

“Schenck Process is a smart company and that is clear from the projects that I see us working on.

Our vision is to be smarter and more connected with technology, but these are not just words, we are actually doing that,” he concludes. AM

PROFILE

REMA TIP TOP LEADER USES CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE TO BUILD COMPANY VISION REMA TIP TOP’S NEW GENERAL MANAGER SCOTT MCGEACHIE HAS SPENT FOUR DECADES IN THE RESOURCES INDUSTRY, BUT IT’S HIS EXPERIENCE AS A CUSTOMER THAT HE WILL DRAW ON TO HELP SHAPE THE COMPANY’S FUTURE. SALOMAE HASELGROVE WRITES.

REMA TIP TOP WELCOMED NEW GENERAL MANAGER SCOTT MCGEACHIE IN AUGUST 2019.

S

ince becoming REMA TIP TOP’s general manager last August, Scott McGeachie has used his experiences as a former client of the company to guide its future relationships in the marketplace.

McGeachie’s career started with an apprenticeship in the mines. He then worked his way up through maintenance, engineering and project management roles, before operating and maintaining coal and processing plants. Since joining REMA TIP TOP, McGeachie has been involved with launching the Brisbane Centre of Excellence, which opened in July last year.

The centre, which complements its Perth counterpart, is a base for the company’s future growth and supports the development of its future materials processing and surface protection capabilities.

Having worked across Australia, from Western Australia to his current position in Newcastle, McGeachie says he has clear insight of customer expectations and requirements.

“What I bring to REMA TIP TOP is a really good understanding of customer perspective,” McGeachie tells Australian Mining. “Which is knowing that people in decision

making roles are often really, really time poor, particularly in mining organisations.

“What they need is for someone from an organisation like REMA TIP TOP to turn up and provide reliable solutions and allow us to get on with business and solve operational challenges.”

Providing products and services for the likes of BHP and Fortescue Metals Group, REMA TIP TOP aims to offer support staff that have an understanding of all company services, rather than just in certain areas of expertise.

McGeachie believes better understanding comes with better connectivity within a business, from leadership, to workers and right down to clients.

“What I am really focussed on and excited about is making national leaders like myself far more connected to the people within our organisation and our customers as well,” he says.

Technology will be a focal point of McGeachie’s attention at REMA TIP TOP as 2020 progresses.

He is keen to see the company take advantage of technology in materials processing, particularly to improve understanding of the condition of conveyor systems.

“As technology continues to grow, we will continue to provide fantastic products,” McGeachie says.

“One of the key opportunities is to get a better understanding of technology to use for understanding the condition of conveying systems and creating productive maintenance strategies.”

Staff growth and development will also be a priority for McGeachie, who wants to ensure all employees are not only equipped to handle the needs of customers, but to also progress their careers within the industry, as he did himself.

“I’m really passionate about making sure as an organisation we’ve got great people in our business that are well AUSTRALIANMINING

supported, well trained and they’ve got that career pathway,” McGeachie says.

“It’s a model that I believe in because it’s been successful not just for myself, I’ve seen lots of people starting out in the industry in a more hands-on role and grown through the organisation, contributing back to the industry.

“This helps not only the organisation to be successful but also the customers interacting with that organisation, which is the most important thing.”

McGeachie is bringing his passion to life through REMA TIP TOP’s collaboration with the Australian Government to become a registered training organisation.

The company is expanding its capability to provide in-house and external belt splicing apprenticeships to young Australians breaking into the resources sector.

“Our focus is on building a sustainable workforce and we’ve worked hard to lobby government to

create national recognised trades,” McGeachie says. “We see this as our key differentiator as we’re aiming at creating career pathways for our staff and the broader sector.”

McGeachie hopes this initiative will not only attract more people into careers within the resources industry, but also allow for the next generation to work their way up through organisations the way he did.

“This is a super exciting opportunity for our business,” McGeachie says. “Belt splicing is a great example of an industry in Australia supporting young people by creating career paths.

“Not only that, but once they’re in the organisation continuing to develop, they’ve got the capability to climb up through the organisation and end up as a leader in our business.”

Connecting this focus on training and development and also drawing on his years of client-side experience, McGeachie believes that REMA TIP TOP is well and truly positioned for long-term growth. AM

REMA TIP TOP PROVIDES GOODS AND SERVICES TO COMPANIES INCLUDING BHP AND FORTESCUE METALS GROUP.

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FEBRUARY 2020

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CRUSHING & SCREENING

MCLANAHAN’S INNOVATIONS TO COUNTER CRUSHING CONTAMINANTS THE CUSTOMISED CRUSHING EXPERIENCE HAS COME A LONG WAY SINCE MCLANAHAN INVENTED THE FIRST SINGLE ROLL CRUSHER IN 1894. MCLANAHAN IS WORKING WITH ITS CLIENTS TO DELIVER CUSTOMISED CRUSHING SOLUTIONS FOR THE MINERAL PROCESSING INDUSTRY. SALOMAE HASELGROVE WRITES.

M

cLanahan now has a range of crushing equipment, including direct drive crushing (DDC) sizers, feeder-breakers, rolls crushers and rotary breakers as it applies new technology at projects in New South Wales’ Hunter Valley and in Queensland’s Bowen Basin.

For both projects, McLanahan’s regional offices in Newcastle and Mackay, along with regular site visits, contribute to the company’s success in designing the right equipment for each process.

McLanahan sales and marketing manager Chris Knowles explains the company’s work on both projects to Australian Mining.

“Every mineral resource is unique in deposit, in the way it’s laid out and in the way it is processed,” Knowles explains.

“What we have experienced over the years is there is more value in locally designing and customising aspects of crushing equipment, so they deliver a more optimised outlook.”

McLanahan has worked closely with clients at an underground thermal and metallurgical coal mine in the Hunter Valley and a thermal coal mine in Queensland’s Surat Basin. The mines are both unique in that the coal contains contaminants such as clays, so the machines McLanahan develops are designed to counter this.

“McLanahan developed a series of crushing equipment that could utilise flushing water, for example, so we can flush the material through, using water to liberate the clays,” Knowles says.

“This allows the operator to crush down to say 38 millimetres instead of 50 millimetres, getting the material smaller so it can be pumped rather than conveyed.

“In this particular area, we designed a complete set of outward crushing, high volume tertiary DDCsizers that are suitable for working in a deluging environment to ensure we

MCLANAHAN’S DIRECT DRIVE CRUSHING SIZER, WHICH IS USED TO LIBERATE CONTAMINANTS WHILE WET CRUSHING.

can process the clay-ridden material containing hard inclusions.”

In contrast to works on these brownfield operations, McLanahan also supplies to a greenfield project in northern Queensland.

McLanahan has been working with this client to develop the site since 2017, culminating in the installation of a three-stage crushing application that includes three feeder-breakers, two secondary DDC-sizers and two tertiary DDC-sizers.

The company not only customised the feeder-breakers to suit the project, but its Mackay-based service team also conducts regular audits and attends maintenance shutdowns.

Customised equipment is especially relevant to the Australian market, because of the tendency for Australian operators to look at overall cost of ownership rather than just the capital cost of an individual piece of equipment.

Knowles believes having the ability to understand the way Australian AUSTRALIANMINING

operators think means McLanahan as a business can develop its equipment accordingly.

“Being an Australian designer, we’re able to customise equipment so it meets the requirements of most Australian operators,” Knowles says.

“For example, we’ve developed carbide impregnated weld-on crushing teeth, which have improved wear life a minimum of three to four times.

“This design improvement gives clients a much longer production cycle before it has to be taken out of service to do maintenance.”

While standard equipment may be suitable in 90 per cent of applications, it may not always be operating at its optimum capacity. For example, if it is using more power than required this means the operation is working at a redundancy by using unnecessary energy.

As well as customising equipment to suit the mine and the material it is processing, Knowles believes it is also

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important to tailor the design to the customer’s experience, as McLanahan prides itself on its involvement in the projects it supplies to.

At the Hunter Valley project, for example, McLanahan visits the site on a weekly basis to monitor the performance of the equipment.

“It is more of a partnership than a customer/supplier relationship,” he says. “Every week on site we are looking at performance.

“We’re very excited that we have the people available in Newcastle close to site so we can engage them with our designers, build relationships with our mechanical and electrical engineers and to also deliver a faster response to the client.”

McLanahan also uses these relationships to obtain client feedback and as a base for design reviews based on the customer’s needs.

“These connections help us to drive innovation and product development in Australia,” Knowles concludes. AM

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CRUSHING & SCREENING

THE WARRIOR 2400 RISES TO THE DEMANDS OF MINING AND QUARRYING.

POWERSCREEN WARRIOR HELPS FUTURE PROOF NZ TRADE LINCOM GROUP’S SCREENING EXPERTISE IS SOLIDIFIED BY THE POWERSCREEN WARRIOR 2400, WHICH IS FACILITATING GROWING TRADE IN NEW ZEALAND.

W

hen an opportunity to support the largest city in New Zealand’s South Island was offered, the Lincom Group

sent in its Warrior.

The move has been backed

by Lincom’s industry expertise, providing material processing solutions within the mining, quarrying and recycling industry sectors.

This time, the Warrior heads for a project run by the family-owned C&R Developments, which was formed by the four Ross brothers in 1998.

The project involves land reclamation that requires dredging a section of seabed and replacing it with an engineering bund containing around 850,000 tonnes of selected material.

This land reclamation will ultimately enable Lyttelton to develop a modern container terminal at Te Awaparahi Bay. It will support the South Island’s growing economy, lending greater capacity in handling the projected export and import trade increase.

Land that was formerly below the line of high-tide is now reclaimed above this line, thanks to the reclamation works.

The first 10 hectares of the reclamation has been completed, and now the team is embarking on the next stage.

The project stretches over multiple stages, removing soft-sediments by dredging, constructing the bund and end-tipping into the sea using a bulldozer/excavator.

A combination of blasting, excavation, screening, stockpiling, carting and placing material will be handled over the next two years.

At the end of the project, Lyttelton Port Company will have extended the area of its port by six hectares, proving that the hard work was worthwhile.

Lyttelton’s environmental management plan for the reclamation aims to minimise and mitigate any environment impacts, while supporting the ecological health of the harbour, according to Lincom group marketing manager Catrina Quinn.

“This project has benefited from a comprehensive site investigation,” Quinn tells Australian Mining.

“The investigation included drilling onshore and offshore boreholes. It is believed that the design and analysis experience can be applied to similar infrastructure design in New Zealand.”

AUSTRALIANMINING

Lincom works closely with C&R Developments to understand specific requirements and to bring the best solutions to the project.

C&R’s experience in working throughout New Zealand has earned the company multiple environmental awards for surpassing the most stringent conditions.

The Powerscreen Warrior 2400 is C&R’s equipment of choice for the extension project.

The Warrior 2400 is responsible for the excavation, carting and placement of 2.6 million tonnes of material into the new reclamation area, away from the local communities.

More than 2.4 million tonnes of earthquake demolition material and rubble goes into the reclamation.

Much of the material is from Christchurch buildings demolished following the 2011 earthquakes, saving the region more than $100 million in dumping costs.

The Warrior 2400 is specifically chosen for its ability to handle larger feed sizes and throughputs.

Its benefits include a slide out tail conveyor facility to aid media access, and a load sensing collection conveyor circuit to avoid blockages.

The Warrior 2400 has an output potential of up to 800 tonnes an hour.

It is, indeed, different to everything

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FEBRUARY 2020

else on the market, according to Quinn.

“C&R needed big tonnage for the Lyttelton Port project and the Warrior is the biggest scalper on the market.

It is six metres by 1.8 metres on both decks, top and bottom,” Quinn says.

“This means Lincom puts steps in place to ensure personnel safety and proper functioning of the plant.

These codes of practice also assist with the risk assessment of the machine during commissioning.”

The Warrior 2400 is also the only scalper with triple-shaft technology, meaning both the amplitude and the direction of throw can be altered and independently of each other, Quinn adds.

It features a heavy-duty incline screen with a high amplitude tripleshaft drive mechanism, lending it to the most demanding screening, scalping, two- or three-way splitting and stockpiling applications.

This provides the ability to accurately tune the machine to the specification application, maximising quality and throughput of the finished product, Quinn says.

“Anywhere, anytime, no matter the location, time or situation, Lincom prides itself on delivering the right solution and after-sales support,” she concludes. AM

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CRUSHING & SCREENING

MAXIMISING GOLD RECOVERY WITH A TRANSFORMATIVE SCREEN DERRICK CORPORATION HAS MOVED TO THE NEXT LEVEL WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF ITS G-VAULT INTERSTAGE SCREEN, WHICH SOLVES COMMON GOLD PROCESSING ISSUES.

D

errick Corporation has been in the business of designing and manufacturing high-frequency vibrating machines and screen surfaces since the 1950s.

The New York-headquartered, family-owned and operated company has worked tirelessly to perfect its art in fine particle separation technology for more than 65 years.

As a third-generation company that is now run by the two grandsons of the original founder H. William Derrick Jr, the leadership team hasn’t shifted from the company’s pioneering spirit in the area of separation technology.

G-Vault, already operates in six countries across North America, Asia and South America, with the first unit now active for 18 months.

The interstage screen uses the same principles that Derrick has successfully developed in oil field applications for use in the mining industry, particularly gold processing.

G-Vault’s patented urethane screen surface, set in a robust stainless-steel cage, replaces the traditional wedge wire screen to increase throughput.

Plant operators can enjoy the same micron consistency, while benefitting from an extended screening life proven by Beta

PEOPLE HAVE QUIT THEIR JOBS BECAUSE THEY DON’T WANT TO CLEAN THE (WEDGE WIRE) BASKETS ONCE A DAY OR EVERY OTHER DAY.” Derrick has success stories in nearly every mining application since its formation in 1951, including at coal, copper ore, gold and iron ore operations.

Its fine particle separation technology is capable of screening wet or dry fine materials in the range of 10 millimetres to 38 microns.

Derrick’s quality control is backed by its commitment to test all solutions under actual field conditions on full-size machines.

Each test is also videotaped to document test programs.

“Our headquarters and manufacturing plant are based in Buffalo, New York. Meanwhile, our oil and gas drilling and civil construction divisions are based in Houston, Texas,” Derrick new product applications specialist Patrick Stasio tells Australian Mining.

Derrick’s business development team generated a screen surface that fits into the carbon-in-pulp/ carbon-in-leach (CIP/CIL) and resinin-leach/resin-in-pulp (RIP/RIL) processes in gold processing plants.

This screen surface, called

testing, thanks to urethane’s abrasion resistant properties and non-blinding technology.

“It’s a several-hour process to power-wash the basket. Some can be as high as 12 feet and eight feet in diameter,” Stasio says.

G-Vault is a product of Derrick’s multi-year development that has been perfected to work best in gold screening applications.

It is set to become a new industry standard for screening equipment, with run-times extending beyond 18 months without regular cleaning cycles.

While the traditional wedge wire basket comes as one unit, G-Vault screen cartridges can be taken out individually. This removes an operator’s need to replace an entire basket during maintenance.

G-Vault is available in different sizes, all of which are equipped with screens ranging from 500 to 1200-micron apertures.

Derrick has set its sights on the Australian market – one of the world’s top five gold producing countries – as the next growth frontier for G-Vault.

AUSTRALIANMINING

DERRICK’S G-VAULT INTERSTAGE SCREEN SERVES AS A SUPERIOR ALTERNATIVE TO ITS WEDGE WIRE COUNTERPART.

Stasio believes Derrick is ready for this challenge, given the range of the company’s equipment that’s already operating in Australia. Users can testify to the product integrity, he says.

“Derrick is an innovator in screening equipment. We have companies coming to us to develop different applications all the time,” Stasio says.

“A company can say they have this problem, ‘Can you help us fix this?’ and we have a whole research and

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FEBRUARY 2020

development team that will look at the project and give the right advice.

“That’s how we help our customers with the things that they need.”

To the new product applications, customer service is the hallmark of the company.

“Derrick is very well known in the mining industry for going out to the field for anything. If a company is facing a problem, it’s not uncommon for one of our high-ranking team members to get on the plane and fix the problem,” Stasio concludes. AM

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CRUSHING & SCREENING

THYSSENKRUPP EXTENDS GYRATORY CRUSHER WINNING STREAK THE COMPANY IS COMING OFF A STRONG YEAR OF ORDERS FROM AUSTRALIAN MINE SITES FOR ITS EXCLUSIVE RANGE OF JAW GYRATORY CRUSHERS. AUSTRALIAN MINING WRITES.

t

hyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions continues to strengthen its place as a leading manufacturer and supplier of gyratory crushers for the Australian mining

market.

The company finished off 2019 by winning a contract to supply a new primary jaw gyratory crusher for the Roy Hill iron ore mine in the Pilbara, Western Australia.

Its third order in 12 months, the thyssenkrupp product is also the first above ground jaw gyratory crusher to be installed in Australia.

The crusher has been designed for both high performance and cost-effective operation, providing Roy Hill with low servicing and maintenance costs. thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions Australia head of sales Ben Suda says the order once again shows the confidence the Australian mining industry places in the company’s crushing equipment.

“The jaw gyratory crusher is characterised by an especially large feed opening,” Suda says. “It is normally serrated out and, together with the upper part of the mantle,

ONE OF THE MORE THAN 250 THYSSENKRUPP GYRATORY CRUSHERS AROUND THE WORLD IN SWEDEN. AUSTRALIANMINING

THE JAW GYRATORY CRUSHER IS CHARACTERISED BY AN ESPECIALLY LARGE FEED OPENING.” forms the initial crushing zone.

“The coarsely crushed material is then reduced to the desired product size in the crushing chamber below.”

Jaw gyratory crushers can handle much bigger chunks of material than comparable gyratory crushers of the same mantle diameter and feature a higher crushing ratio, with less tendency to become clogged in the feed zone as a result of bridging, Suda adds.

After a strong 2019, thyssenkrupp has nine jaw gyratory crushers operating in the Australian mining industry.

Australia has emerged as a key growth market for the company’s gyratory crushers, adding to the more than 250 systems around the world. thyssenkrupp remains the only supplier of the jaw gyratory crusher and has left its mark in multiple applications, from coarse feed material sites to block cave mines and underground operations.

Northparkes in New South Wales, for example, was the first mine to use the standard indirect fed jaw gyratory crusher, type BK 63-75, for a block cave mine.

Since the Northparkes installation, the primary crusher design has become the standout solution for block cave mines taking run-of-mine ore extracted using this advanced method.

Block caving has proven to be cost effective but often delivers a relatively coarse run-of-mine material with unpredictable maximum lump size, which can be effectively crushed using the jaw gyratory system.

Gyratory and jaw type gyratory crushers are more broadly an integral part of semi-mobile and stationary processing plants used for primary crushing of bulk materials in ore mines and the natural rock industry. thyssenkrupp’s design of the crushers, based on more than 100

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years of experience, represents stateof-the-art engineering design and 3D software capabilities.

The crushers are designed for both high throughput rates and large crushing ratios, while minimising operating and maintenance costs. thyssenkrupp has taken a versatile approach with the crusher design, including the option for complete top service or bottom service machines.

Suda says an added benefit is the ability to operate the crusher remotely or locally using the Gyromatic control system.

“The innovative jaw gyratory crusher is a unique concept based on the proven and widely used standard gyratory crusher,” Suda says.

“Jaw gyratory crushers combine the advantages of both common jaw and gyratory crushers and are used worldwide for the crushing of ores, natural rock and limestone in applications with extra-large feed material.” thyssenkrupp has developed the jaw gyratory crusher with a threepiece crusher shell, incorporating a bottom shell, middle shell and spider with extended crusher throat, providing the large feed opening.

The main shaft features an integrated lifting lug for direct attachment onto the crane hook, while a self-tightening head nut ensures the proper securing of the manganese mantle. thyssenkrupp has fitted the eccentric bush assembly with a balance weight for reduction of horizontal foundation forces. The optional top service configuration further reduces these forces.

These proven design characteristics, combined with a growing track record in the Australian marketplace, have the thyssenkrupp jaw gyratory crusher ready for another exciting year in 2020. AM

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CRUSHING & SCREENING

FLSMIDTH LASERS IN ON A CRUSHING FUTURE WITH CONNECTED CONTROL SYSTEMS MANY OPERATORS OF CRUSHING MACHINES LACK KNOWLEDGE OF THE ORE GRADE THEY ARE CRUSHING UNTIL LATE IN THE PROCESS. FLSMIDTH IS CHANGING THIS BY APPLYING NEW TECHNOLOGY THAT HELPS TO BETTER DETECT ORE GRADE. SALOMAE HASELGROVE WRITES.

F

LSmidth is using laser scanners to revolutionise crushing and screening activities, its latest innovation after more than 100 years at the forefront of technological change in mining.

The Danish company is introducing laser scanners to measure particle size distribution in the crusher and to allow the operator to measure the volume of material coming out of the machine.

Using laser scanners as part of the crushing and screening process doesn’t just provide an advantage for measuring the crushed ore, but also in adding value to it. The FLSmidth crusher control panel adds this new technology as an integrated option.

The PLC (programmable logic controller) gives additional input about the result when it comes to size reduction and processed volume.

FLSmidth global product director Sven Hoerschkes says the company can add these two additional dimensions to the crusher with laser scanners so the operator can analyse the performance of the crusher result in more detail.

“In the mining industry it is very important to have the right fraction out of the crusher, because some applications look for a very precise particle size,” Hoerschkes tells Australian Mining.

With the variation of potential ore characteristics being mined, it can be difficult to know what kind of crushing performance the operator will get without knowing the composition of the ore.

Using FLSmidth’s techniques, operators have the ability to detect the portion of material coming from the crusher, allowing them to check how coarse it is without having to wait until later in the process.

According to Hoerschkes, many operators “safe-crush”, in fear of taking on too much material, so this feature can optimise crushing results to deliver 10 to 15 per cent more value on the finished product.

FLSMIDTH’S LASER SCANNING TECHNOLOGY ALLOWS USERS TO STORE 12 MONTHS OF DATA TO MONITOR CRUSHING PERFORMANCE.

“At the moment you operate a crusher more or less ‘blind’,” Hoerschkes says. “If you don’t know exactly what the final outcome of your crusher is, you tend to operate it on the safe side.

“In majority of applications, this isn’t necessary. So you’re missing throughput because you can’t operate the crusher to the most optimal point.”

As well as increasing the capacity for production, laser scanners can also have a positive effect on the lifetime of crushing and screening machinery, such as the liner.

FLSmidth has a range of web-based control platforms for its crusher control programs, including the SiteConnect app.

SiteConnect, available to both managers and operators, allows users to store 12 months’ worth of data, have full visibility of the crushing plant performance and even have better control of when it requires maintenance.

“The maintenance scheduling is far more controlled,” Hoerschkes says.

“These scanners and machines can AUSTRALIANMINING

give an idea of what the crusher liner status is, whether it is worn or not.

This means you can plan maintenance in advance, not when it is too late.

The software compares particle size distribution (PSD) and capacity and will determine the condition of the liners based on this information.

“With this technology, we can give the customer exact information for his or her maintenance schedule in detail, so you can plan it together with another machine, so you have less uncontrolled shutdowns.”

The online platform is kept completely secure by Linux, so it is not vulnerable to viruses and all communication is encrypted, keeping precious operating data protected.

FLSmidth likes to maintain a consistent approach to its control mechanisms, such as having one support platform for customers to connect with the supplier, simplifying the use process for the customer and the service process for the supplier.

This closing of the gap between the customer and supplier is one of FLSmidth’s key ambitions as it

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continues to provide ‘future mining’ solutions.

“With this kind of advanced control of a crusher, we can really analyse the complete history and plan our reactions accordingly,” Hoerschkes says.

“This interaction between customer and supplier will become far deeper and this will provide a boost to plant capacities and their abilities.”

Looking ahead, Hoerschkes believes FLSmidth’s control systems will eventually be used at remote operations, helping the industry entice skilled labour to mining companies that operate isolated mine sites.

“This way, people can get on their smartphones and communicate the next steps for the crusher, double checking it when warnings are generated,” Hoerschkes says.

“In Australia, we have a lot of customers who are operating their plants on a remote basis and this laser scanner and software will help tremendously. This makes it easier for them to make decisions and maximise the performance.” AM

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CRUSHING & SCREENING

KOMATSU FEEDER GIVES VERSATILE CRUSHING EXPERIENCE KOMATSU’S JOY STAMLER RECLAIM FEEDERS ARE A COST-EFFECTIVE WAY TO FEED AND BLEND MATERIALS DURING THE CRUSHING AND SCREENING PROCESS.

K

omatsu has developed a range of versatile and flexible feeders that give operators material options in any mine.

The SFB-43 model surface feeder breaker, for example, is ideal for hard rock applications with its powerful rotary pick breaker, delivering a throughput rate of 5000 tonnes per hour.

As the SFB-43 fractures material rather than crushing, it provides consistent sized and easy-to-handle lumps, and generates fewer fines, maximising the value of the product.

The Stamler RF-5 reclaim feeders on the other hand, are both ideal for coal and industrial mineral applications (offering throughput capacities up to 3650 tonnes per hour), providing options for mines of all sizes and production levels.

The RF-5’s unique design provides optimal flexibility and productivity for materials handling with its ability to blend and its broad range of system capacity options.

For example, if your mine needs to blend materials, the RF-5 feeder can be combined with conveyors to feed a variety of materials into a single conveyor system.

If it has additional capacity, it is possible to add feeders to maximise throughput and truly customise the machinery to the mine.

According to Komatsu crushing sales manager Matthew Valmadre, this flexibility allows users to handle their tonnage rates as required.

“You can reclaim and blend onto a central conveyor belt by utilising several reclaim feeders, feeding from different stockpiles at varying rates,” Valmadre says.

If a custom solution isn’t what mining operators are looking for, the delivery time for a standard Stamler RF-5 is 30 to 40 per cent quicker, efficiently providing users with a piece of equipment that is ready for production.

To make the installation process as smooth as possible, Komatsu Mining offers low installation costs and a quick turnaround time, allowing operators to get equipment into production as soon as possible.

“The mobility and flexibility inherent in the design reduces or eliminates costly civil work and site preparation,” Valmadre adds.

“The RF-5 only requires solid, level ground conditions for installation.

In-ground hoppers, grids, tunnels and

THE KOMATSU STAMLER RF5 RECLAIM FEEDER.

underground belt conveyance systems are no longer required.”

Equipped with a skid-mounted unit, the RF-5 provides users with extensive mobility and options to change the electro-mechanical drives to match the requirement of the environment it is being used in.

The hopperless design makes the RF-5 easy to load and material can be moved directly onto the drag-chain conveyor.

The integrated surge hopper can be loaded from dozers, clam shell buckets, dump trucks, excavators, front-end loaders and stacking conveyors, further demonstrating the

MATERIAL MOVING UP THE CONVEYOR VIA A KOMATSU FEEDER.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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FEBRUARY 2020

RF-5’s versatility.

“The hopperless design allows material to be moved directly onto the integrated drag-chain conveyor,” Valmadre explains.

“The material forms its own surge hopper, eliminating expensive fabricated upper hoppers and structures.”

The material then forms its own surge hopper, eliminating the need for fabricated upper hoppers and structures, which can prove expensive.

Komatsu equipment has proven its reliability, with an average machine life of more than 20 years.

“Our simple design with steel components provides our customers with an OE machine that is reliable and durable for maximum production,” the spokesperson continues.

“The Komatsu Stamler product line RF-5s are designed to accept preengineered, bolt-on/plug-in options and upgrades to maximise machine performance, while minimally impacting lead time impact.”

In the event of damage, Komatsu stocks parts that can be easily dispatched to minimise machinery downtime, meaning mining companies lose less of their valuable production with quick turnaround times in the event of damage.

“Komatsu reclaim feeders deliver a low total cost of ownership with a low installation cost and can be easily relocated to be used where most needed. Our machinery is designed to fit multiple application needs including coal, wet, sticky materials and industrial minerals,” Valmadre concludes. AM

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TRAINING & EDUCATION

LIEBHERR LINES UP THE WORKERS OF TOMORROW THE ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER IS ENSURING ITS WORKFORCE WILL BE EQUIPPED FOR THE CHANGING DEMANDS OF THE MINING INDUSTRY BY INVESTING IN APPRENTICES.

L

iebherr-Australia is building the future of its workforce with a bespoke apprenticeship program that will drive development of the company’s next generation of employees.

With skills shortages again emerging for mining and METS (mining equipment, technology and services) companies, the original equipment

manufacturer (OEM) has this year moved its apprenticeship program in house to improve the training and support they receive.

Liebherr-Australia has 48 apprentices based at its Perth, Adelaide, Mt Thorley and Mackay branches in the first year of the company-designed program.

The new, in-house platform replaces Liebherr-Australia’s previous system of using group training organisations that

NATIONAL TECHNICAL TRAINING MANAGER JAMES WARD USING THE R 9150 SIMULATOR WITH APPRENTICES.

JAMES WARD TRAINING APPRENTICES AT THE LIEBHERR FACILITY IN ADELAIDE.

AUSTRALIANMINING

employed apprentices and placed them with the company.

Liebherr-Australia expects that the direct employment with apprentices will help build loyalty within its workforce and protect the company against skills shortages.

The new program will benefit the apprentices by giving them a more personalised training platform with increased opportunities across Liebherr-Australia’s network of operations.

Liebherr-Australia is exposing the apprentices to the unique activities at each branch across the country.

The apprentices will also be able to join Liebherr’s experienced servicepeople on more field trips to customer projects for firsthand mine site experiences.

Liebherr-Australia executive general manager customer service, mining Tony Johnstone says the program is improving how the OEM engages with its apprentices.

“It is important that an OEM like Liebherr sets up programs like this to develop our future workforce,” Johnstone tells Australian Mining.

“The program is tailor made to reflect the changing needs of apprentices and also the direction that both Liebherr and the mining industry are moving.

“It will offer our apprentices more opportunities than in the past and a level of training that hasn’t been available for them at the company until now.”

The new-look program proved popular with aspiring apprentices during the application phase last year.

Almost 1700 people from across the country applied for a position on the four-year program ahead of the 2020 intake that was announced last November.

Liebherr-Australia national apprenticeship and training coordinator Ellee Vivian says the new program has been largely developed based off feedback from past and current apprentices.

“The apprentices previously felt there had been something missing in terms of the levels of communication, the focus on each of them and the type of learning opportunities they had,”

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Vivian says.

“We wanted to give the apprentices more of these things, so we have set up a new program that is specifically run by Liebherr that gives them more opportunities and engagement.”

Since the program started in January, the OEM has focussed on providing the apprentices with training that reflects Liebherr’s fleet of mining equipment.

They are receiving a broad overview of the company’s service capabilities, its development from a technological perspective and the safety initiatives it has introduced.

“As the mining industry has changed it has sometimes been difficult for companies like Liebherr to get the right human resources here in Australia,” Vivian says.

“By starting the apprentices with the company from day one we can train them to be Liebherr specialised and give them a proper overview of us as a business.

“They then become better tradespeople for Liebherr because they have received specific training from us; then we have a constant flow of tradespeople coming through.”

Liebherr-Australia has also designed the apprenticeship program with more than just the technical skills required for its equipment in mind.

It has recognised that the apprentices, and workers generally in the mining industry, require a range of life skills to complement what they can technically provide for the company.

The program also emphasises the job-associated importance of physical and mental health with what may end up being remotely based jobs, as well as giving practical advice and guidance with managing finances.

Johnstone believes the competition for a spot on the program shows that mining companies and OEMs continue to offer an attractive working environment.

“This program has been designed to attract the next generation of workers to Liebherr and the mining industry in general. The popularity of the program during the application process is a good sign that both have a strong appeal with the workers of tomorrow,” Johnstone concludes. AM

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AUTOMATION

SYAMA PARTNERSHIP PUSHES UNDERGROUND BOUNDARIES RESOLUTE MINING’S AMBITIOUS PROJECT WITH SANDVIK TO TURN THE SYAMA GOLD MINE INTO A FULLY AUTOMATED UNDERGROUND OPERATION IS BREAKING NEW GROUND. BEN CREAGH PROVIDES AN UPDATE ON THE DEVELOPMENT.

T

he Syama gold project in Mali is proving that mining has matured to a point where it is possible to develop and operate a fully autonomous underground site.

Resolute Mining’s partnership with Sandvik at the West African site is also highlighting how a project can deliver two-way benefits for a mining company and equipment manufacturer.

The operation is on track to become the most advanced gold operation in Africa. It will also be a major breakthrough for the underground gold mining sector as a fully automated operation.

The Syama project incorporates autonomous drilling, loading and hauling, operating in a sub-level cave mine that features twin declines.

Resolute technical services manager Brett Ascott believes the project is now realising the vision the two companies had when they designed the project.

Previously an open pit site, Ascott says Resolute’s engineers recognised in 2015 that more value could be gained from Syama’s gold resources by developing it into an underground site.

“During the first feasibility study things like automated loading were discussed and there was a trade-off study between trucking and conveying done,” Ascott tells Australian Mining.

“A decline was decided as the best option, but at the time it was recognised that a production rate of more than two million tonnes was going to be difficult for the trucking loop to achieve, so we went with a twin decline.”

This is when the Syama opportunity emerged for Sandvik, an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) with more than 20 years’ experience in automation.

Resolute had scanned the marketplace for automation packages and identified Sandvik’s AutoMine equipment automation and teleoperation systems as the best equipped for the proposed development.

THE UNDERGROUND MINE IS GUIDED BY THE SANDVIK AUTOMINE SYSTEM.

“We had a look at some of Sandvik’s sites and we were encouraged that we could see around 20-30 per cent productivity improvements at Syama by putting this technology in so we engaged in a partnership,” Ascott says.

“Unlike other deposits around the world where you might see one or two of these technologies in various parts, we actually built the mine from the start with automation in mine. It is the full cycle right from the mining face.”

Resolute and Sandvik worked together to design a twin decline underground operation that specifically supported the use of autonomous machines.

They collaborated on equipment selection, underground infrastructure design and identified solutions that improved safety and productivity.

The AutoMine systems are considered the most advanced for the underground market, but the proposed design of Syama meant that Sandvik had to develop AUSTRALIANMINING

WE HAD A LOOK AT SOME OF SANDVIK’S SITES AND WE WERE ENCOURAGED THAT WE COULD SEE AROUND 20-30 PER CENT PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENTS AT SYAMA BY PUTTING THIS TECHNOLOGY IN SO WE ENGAGED IN A PARTNERSHIP.” additional functionality.

Sandvik APAC digitalisation business line manager Ville Svensberg says automated surface navigation is a feature that the OEM has added to AutoMine to support the Syama project.

“This project sped up our roadmap development to make it available for Syama – that’s the first place in the world that it is fully operational,” Svensberg says.

“We have studied the application together and what would be the ideal way for filling the box and unloading. We figured out a scope for what needed to be further developed and what part of the

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existing offering would fit nicely.

“It was really important to work together from the beginning to define the twin decline to produce at a high productivity rate, but to also work safely and maintain the roads. It’s a part of the mine design that kicks in to maximise the performance.”

Despite the risks the unprecedented project presented, Resolute is on track to ramp up production at Syama to a targeted rate of 300,000 ounces a year.

Resolute launched sublevel caving at the mine in December 2018 and reached commercial production rates in June 2019.

AUTOMATION

THIS PROJECT SPED UP OUR ROADMAP DEVELOPMENT TO MAKE IT AVAILABLE FOR SYAMA – THAT’S THE FIRST PLACE IN THE WORLD THAT IT IS FULLY OPERATIONAL.”

SYAMA FEATURES AUTONOMOUS DRILLING, LOADING AND HAULING.

Since the automated drills started full operation at the beginning of 2019, Resolute has realised 20-30 per cent improvements in drilling rates compared with manual performance.

The site’s automated loaders started collecting ore from the bottom of ore passes during the third quarter of 2019 and are loading automated trucks via a split-level

facility.

Sandvik’s trucks are travelling up the underground laser guidance on the decline and then transitioning to satellite GPS guidance when they exit the portal to dump the ore on the run-of-mine (ROM) pad.

Resolute has tested the traffic management system, both on surface and in the Syama underground mine.

The company has also been hauling all stope ore to surface via the automated truck loop since the September 2019 quarter.

In collaboration with Sandvik, the Syama operations team will incrementally decrease truck cycle times and increase average speeds in 2020.

Svensberg believes the relationship Sandvik has formed with Resolute on the project has been the basis of the success at Syama.

“We conducted many common workshops together at the beginning of the project where we aligned what the expectations are from the customer side and what we

can achieve inside of the project,” Svensberg says.

“A lot of our work has been about change management, having to put this complex package of technology together.

“Setting up everything in an automated way needs cooperation and that is something we can always learn better and quicker to prove to the rest of the world that this actually works.”

Resolute has pushed the boundaries of underground mining at Syama, but would the company take on a project of this scale again?

“I think so. We are on the leading edge at the moment and the second time we would have more experience and be ready for the next challenge,” Ascott says.

“If you think about where automation is going, the next step would be not having to put two declines in. It would be like what we see emerging on the roads where we have Uber driving around in normal traffic areas.” AM

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DRILL & BLAST

DIFFERENTIAL ENERGY SHAPES THE MODERN MINER’S ROLE AUTOMATION IS CONSIDERED THE FUTURE OF MINING, BUT AS TWO OF DYNO NOBEL’S LEADERS EXPLAIN, IT CAN ALSO BE USED TO COLLECT DATA THAT HELP TO PLAN FOR SUSTAINABLE OUTCOMES. SALOMAE HASELGROVE WRITES. DYNO NOBEL WORKING AT THE BHP JIMBLEBAR IRON ORE MINE IN THE PILBARA.

D

yno Nobel showcased its differential energy technology at the 2019 International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC), which BHP is rolling out at the Jimblebar iron ore mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Differential energy technology allows the company to change the way it completes tasks, including the introduction of automated vehicles for jobs such as loading bore holes with explosives and detonators.

Dyno Nobel’s head of mining and automation Paul Terry says using automated vehicles for these jobs not only improves productivity, but also allows operators to collect data to design future blasts.

Automation can replace numerous manual labour tasks, including measuring bore holes, programming

electronic detonators and depositing explosives into the bore holes with differential GPS. Terry believes data collected from each of these practices is valuable for future operations.

“Currently, Dyno Nobel is working on automation for a number of processes for better inclusion of data in the system for lasting outcomes,” Terry explains.

“The benefit of this data is we get a lot more of an accurate picture of what actually happens on the job.

“In the past, we may have been recording this from the instrument, to person to data but now we can go from the instrument straight into data.

“This means we’re putting a bunch of data in the cloud and we’re able to share it with a whole range of people in the drilling operation and get an overall feedback cycle.”

One of the more frequent concerns AUSTRALIANMINING

surrounding automation and databased research is will they remove the human element from mining?

Terry explains that while automation does in part replace human tasks, the technology is also a tool that makes the job easier and tasks less repetitive for human workers.

“The immediate perception of automation is that it’s taking people from the job,” Terry says.

“People aren’t going to disappear from the picture, it’s more about a change in the roles than the roles disappearing.

“These machines have to operate around people, whether they’re tendering the machines or if there’s further manual tasks that need to be done.”

Terry believes the introduction of automated machinery to complete the more repetitive tasks will change

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mining roles for the better.

He says roles in mining will arguably become more interesting than the repetitive manual labour tasks that are being replaced.

“This is a key benefit of automation because the people who work in mines are smart and experienced people who have been doing their jobs for a long time,” Terry says.

“To give them a more interesting role because you’ve got a machine to do the repetitive work, is undoubtedly a benefit.”

The other benefit of course is safety, removing workers from operating around hazardous environments and machinery.

“Automation is not so much about the reduction of people, it’s about separating the interaction between people and the machines,” Terry says.

“Machines still rely on people to make sure the holes are filled

DRILL & BLAST

PEOPLE AREN’T GOING TO DISAPPEAR FROM THE PICTURE, IT’S MORE ABOUT A CHANGE IN THE ROLES THAN THE ROLES DISAPPEARING.” correctly to stop fly rock or rocks escaping in mid-air on a blast, so while they might be insulated from the manual tasks, they’re still a key control to one of the key safety issues to the tasks.”

In addition to removing more workers from potentially dangerous environments, the other significant safety benefit of differential energy for mining companies is they can use lighter top chargers, which reduce the risk of fly rock when blasting.

Unlike typical explosives, differential energy techniques don’t require a number of different materials to be blended together, it requires just one product which can be stored on site.

Aside from safety, it also lessens the environmental impact of blasting, Dyno Nobel chief technology development officer Rob Rounsley explains.

“Because of the water resistance of the product, you don’t dissolve nitrates in your ground water, so you reduce nitrogen oxide (NOX) and particularly, nitrogen dioxide (NO2 emissions,” Rounsley says.

As well as reducing NOX and NO2 emissions, Rounsley says using differential energy also helps to lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

“Now, it’s relatively small in the terms of overall CO2 emissions, but we can reduce those emissions from blasting activities, usually by between 10 and 30 per cent, which is a pretty significant number,” he says.

As well as being a major supply for BHP, Dyno Nobel has formed an alliance agreement with the mining major to develop new technologies together.

Rounsley says alliance agreements are a convenient way for technology and mining companies to combine their knowledge when developing new systems.

“We bring all of our expertise in the field of explosives, engineering and all of the services that go with those fields, and BHP brings in the mining side,” Rounsley says.

“We put those two things together in a collaboration to deliver greater value to both parties.”

Dyno Nobel’s key principle for designing and establishing new

AUSTRALIANMINING

PAUL TERRY OF DYNO NOBEL SPEAKS ABOUT USING DATA TO DESIGN FUTURE BLASTS AT IMARC.

technology like differential energy is remaining a step ahead of the game but always taking a step back to make sure its customers aren’t being left behind.

As Rounsley explains, in an evergrowing field like automation, it is easy for companies to fall into the trap of designing new developments with their own issues at front of mind, rather than their customers.

“One of the real key principles you need to have when you are developing new things, it’s to design with your

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customers’ concerns in mind, rather than your own challenges,” Rounsley says.

“For example, for the digital solutions we deliver, at a company level we would start with ‘how do we create software that will design really good quality blasts?’ But a customer doesn’t really care about that.

“What the customers care about is ‘how do I create fragmentation or how do I create a vibration or mining outcome,’ so that’s what our philosophy needs to be.” AM

TECHNOLOGY

UNDERGROUND MINERS HOP ONBOARD MOBILARIS TECHNOLOGY MOBILARIS, TOGETHER WITH ITS PARTIAL OWNER EPIROC, IS TURNING UNDERGROUND MINING INTO A TRANSPARENT ENVIRONMENT FOR ALL WORKERS WITH MOBILARIS ONBOARD. BEN CREAGH EXPLAINS HOW THE TECHNOLOGY WORKS.

S

afe and efficient navigation of underground mines is naturally a challenge for many equipment operators.

Underground environments are dark and dusty. They are also often a labyrinth of tunnels and operators can obviously not see through walls.

Communication is another challenge for underground operators, who have traditionally relied on walkie-talkies or radios to communicate with their fellow workers.

The limited ways to communicate potentially creates safety hazards and impacts productivity because of a lack of efficiencies.

Mining companies have explored opportunities to improve awareness in underground mines by investing in Wi-Fi technology or other modern

infrastructure for communications.

But challenges remain, particularly the significant cost of these projects, which is beyond many mining companies.

Swedish technology company Mobilaris Mining & Civil Engineering is convinced it has solved many of underground mining’s navigational challenges with Mobilaris Onboard, an innovation launched in 2019.

The solution runs on a modern tablet computer mounted inside a machine’s cabin and enables any underground miner to know what is going on in the mine.

Mobilaris Onboard collects all of the real-time information about personnel, equipment and vehicles from a centralised Mobilaris Mining Intelligence software solution.

The information, including mine maps, is shown in 3D and is stored

locally so operators can use it even when they are outside of network coverage.

Mobilaris VP strategic product management and business development Hans Wahlquist says Mobilaris Onboard delivers a paradigm shift by giving underground miners a level of situational awareness not previously possible.

“People are smart but without information they can’t do much,” Wahlquist tells Australian Mining.

“This solution explodes the amount of information that is available and I think it is what’s going to make situational awareness take off in underground mining.

“Situational awareness has been around for several years in the control rooms of more developed mines. But there were still only a few people that knew what was happening, and it

EQUIPMENT OPERATORS USE THE ONBOARD SOLUTION WITH A COMMERCIAL TABLET.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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wasn’t the miners.”

Mobilaris Onboard provides unique situational awareness of the whole mine, with a view like what is seen in a mining operations centre on a commercial tablet.

Wahlquist, who describes the solution as “Google for your mine”, says now almost anyone can navigate safely to a location or to a moving asset without any specific knowledge about the mine, just like a GPS-enabled car.

As a mobile radar, Mobilaris Onboard’s traffic awareness feature enables drivers to avoid meetings with other machines that would have previously created congestion and impacted on productivity.

As Wahlquist says, operators can now “see through walls” to improve their awareness of oncoming traffic to avoid these meetings.

Importantly, Mobilaris Onboard

TECHNOLOGY

THIS SOLUTION EXPLODES THE AMOUNT OF INFORMATION THAT IS AVAILABLE AND I THINK IT IS WHAT’S GOING TO MAKE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS TAKE OFF IN UNDERGROUND MINING.” also makes underground mines safer.

In the case of an evacuation event, for example, drivers use the increased awareness to navigate to the closest rescue chambers.

The technological breakthrough that makes Mobilaris Onboard possible is a patent-pending algorithm called Mobilaris Hybrid Positioning, the foundation of the overall solution.

Based upon sensor fusion, artificial intelligence and advanced mathematics, the algorithm allows for self-sustained positioning of a vehicle with five to 10 metres accuracy without any dedicated infrastructure for positioning.

“The algorithm takes away the need for infrastructure to navigate underground, but it does need the infrastructure to communicate position to others and get their position back,” Wahlquist says.

“We need the network to exchange information, but we don’t need it to exchange position. If we lose connection we will still know where everyone is before we lost it.”

Swedish miner Boliden was the first company to upgrade to Mobilaris Onboard at the Kristineberg mine in Sweden.

Kristineberg mine manager Andreas Suup says Boliden has realised many benefits with Mobilaris Onboard.

“Before, we had to drive our coworkers around and show them the ropes before allowing them to be selfsufficient in the mine,” Suup says.

“With this system we have realised that we can use positioning, type that into the Mobilaris Onboard system, and they will get a waypoint in the system showing them exactly where to

go. It means that our co-workers can get to a production site in short notice.”

Suup also believes a tool like Mobilaris Onboard will help mining companies like Boliden attract the next generation of workers by taking the industry to a higher level of digitalisation.

Wahlquist agrees and adds that experienced operators at the Boliden mine now can’t work without the solution either.

“I think it is a good example of what you can do with modern technology and innovation,” Wahlquist says.

“It is so fantastic to see how easy miners quickly grasp the functionality of Mobilaris Onboard and how they start to depend on it. Once in their hands, it is as impossible to remove it as it would be to take the smartphone from a teenager.”

Wahlquist is confident the Australian market will join its Scandinavian counterparts by introducing the solution to underground mines around the country.

In fact, this process has already started for Mobilaris, according to Wahlquist.

“The needs and the requirements from the market are huge so we are trying to do it at a pace that we can cope,” Wahlquist says.

Mobilaris Onboard is one of the key technologies in Epiroc’s 6th Sense Transport solution, which focusses on optimising the movement of material through the customer value chain.

Through Mobilaris’ partnership with Epiroc, Australian mining companies will be able to access the Mobilaris Onboard solution. AM

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INTERNATIONAL

MITSUI STRENGTHENS AUSTRALIAN RELATIONSHIP MITSUI AUSTRALIA CHAIR AND CEO NOBORU KATSU IS NO STRANGER TO PARTNERSHIPS, HAVING NOT ONLY COLLABORATED WITH GLOBAL BUSINESSES, BUT ALSO CONNECTED COMMUNITIES. SALOMAE HASELGROVE WRITES.

W

ith almost 40 years at Japan’s Mitsui & Co under his belt, Noboru Katsu has represented the company in Norway, Thailand and the United Kingdom.

In April last year, Katsu added Australia to this list when he became the chair and chief executive officer of the company’s operations in the country.

Katsu’s three key values for creating and maintaining a positive long-term working relationship are respect for society and the environment, contribution to the partnership, and a relationship built on trust.

“Given our integrated and dependent world, no one company, no one sector can go it alone,” Katsu tells Australian Mining at the 2019 International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC).

“Mitsui is not here as a silent investor; we are here to contribute to our joint ventures, and each contribute with our unique set of skills with a shared vision on how we can grow the partnership.

“It is also important to respect your partner and their society and environment, and all of the stakeholders of your partner’s company, including building relationships with their community.

“Trust takes a long time to build but only takes one day to lose, which is why we really value those longterm, win-win relationships built on trust.”

Mitsui has offices in 66 countries around the world and has bridged a relationship between Australia and Japan since 1901, when the company opened its first Australian office in Sydney.

The company is Australia’s fourth largest exporter with annual export values amounting to $8 billion on an equity basis.

Mitsui employs people across Australia through its joint ventures with partners including BHP and Rio Tinto.

One of its most notable working

MITSUI AUSTRALIA CHAIR AND CEO NOBORU KATSU SPEAKS ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING A GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH PARTNER COMPANIES.

MITSUI IS NOT HERE AS A SILENT INVESTOR; WE ARE HERE TO CONTRIBUTE TO OUR JOINT VENTURES, AND EACH CONTRIBUTE WITH OUR UNIQUE SET OF SKILLS WITH A SHARED VISION ON HOW WE CAN GROW THE PARTNERSHIP.” relationships in Australia is with Komatsu Australia, in which it has a 40 per cent equity stake.

In Australia, there are currently 135 trucks equipped with Komatsu’s automated haulage systems technology being used across six mine operations, with this number set to more than double in the next two years.

AUSTRALIANMINING

Mitsui’s first Australian joint venture dates back to 1963 at the Moura coal mine in the Bowen Basin region in Queensland.

Recognising the Japanese steel industry’s need for a stable, longterm supply of coking coal, Mitsui formed a joint venture with a consortium including Thiess to develop the Moura coal mine.

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Now operating as the Dawson mine under Anglo American, this project was the first of its kind by a Japanese company in Australia and became a model for subsequent foreign investments in Australia’s resources sector.

Mitsui remains invested in the project and last year, Katsu visited the town where it all began to attend Moura’s annual Coal and Country Festival, an event Mitsui has supported for the past 10 years.

For Katsu, the relationship between Australia and Japan means more than business alone, it is also about the two countries sharing their cultures and creating friendships.

“While I may have only been

INTERNATIONAL

“WE ARE THE SECOND LARGEST INVESTOR IN THE WORLD FOR AUSTRALIA, AFTER THE USA AND THE SECOND LARGEST TRADING COMPANY AFTER CHINA.”

KATSU SERVING MOURA LOCALS TRADITIONAL JAPANESE FOOD AT THE ANNUAL MOURA COUNTRY AND COAL FESTIVAL.

here for a short time, Mitsui has a long and committed history with Australia,” Katsu says.

“Mitsui’s very first joint venture in Australia started in Moura, a small town in Queensland and we are conscious of our link to the community.

“At the Moura Festival, I served traditional Japanese foods such as yakisoba, which is Japanese fried noodles, dumplings and tazukuri to the community.

The cultural interaction is about

more than Katsu sharing delicious food with a regional Queensland community; Mitsui also supplies salt from its wholly-owned subsidiary Shark Bay Salt for sumo wrestling tournaments back in Japan.

“Salt is regarded as a purifying agent for sumo tournaments,” Katsu explains. “The Shark Bay Salt was used to cleanse the ring in one of the major sumo tournaments in Japan this year.

“Sumo wrestling is a 300 or 400-year-old religious ceremony, and

AUSTRALIANMINING

the salt is used to purify the ground before the sumo wrestlers pray in front of God.” Mitsui has also invested in fostering the relationship between Australia and Japan, as one of the first companies to support the Australian Government’s New Colombo plan.

The initiative offers Australian university students scholarships to study in the Indo-Pacific region, including Japan.

Each year, the company hosts 14 students at its Tokyo head office for a two-week immersion program, providing them with opportunities to learn about Mitsui’s business, Japanese industries and the relationship between Australia and Japan.

“We want to create stronger ties between Japan and Australia so Mitsui can contribute to the future of the relationship between Japan and Australia,” Katsu says.

With 25 Australian joint ventures in industries from minerals to oil and

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gas and rail, Mitsui’s relationship with Australia has only strengthened since its beginnings in the early 1900s.

“We are the second largest investor in the world for Australia, after the USA and the second largest trading company after China,” Katsu explains.

“I am very happy to see in the last 10 years our investment in Australia increase and diversify with a good mixture of resource and nonresource companies.”

As for Katsu himself, does he now call Australia home?

“I have only been in Australia for 18 months, but I am happy to be here and enjoying life,” he says.

“I went to the AFL Grand Final, the grand prix, the Australian Open and I’ve met Prime Minister Scott Morrison twice.

“I’m enjoying a lot of different opportunities and Mitsui’s 25 joint ventures are not the limit here in Australia, we have a large pipeline of projects to come in the future.” AM

ASSET MANAGEMENT

SPECIALTY LUBRICANTS KEEP PROCESSING PLANTS RUNNING UNDER DIFFICULT OPERATING CONDITIONS, THE RIGHT TYPE OF LUBRICANT PLAYS A VITAL ROLE IN TERMS OF OPERATIONAL RELIABILITY. KLÜBER LUBRICATION PROVIDES A GUIDE FOR MINING.

E

fficient, specialty lubricants tailored to the requirements of the mining industry can make a significant contribution to increased production quantities and operational reliability, while considerably decreasing maintenance and repair costs.

To maintain the functionality of machinery in a mineral processing plant, several tonnes of lubricants are used for the numerous gearboxes, open drives, bearings, chains, compressors and other components each year.

The rough operating conditions in the mining industry pose special challenges to lubricants.

Among these challenges are, for example, high pressure, shock loads and vibrating stress, as well as extreme temperatures and temperature changes, frequent, unforeseen stops and also low-speed operation, which the lubricants used have to withstand.

Additionally, all structural components are subject to high dust and dirt particle concentrations in ambient air.

Open and closed gears are important structural components to consider in a mining plant when it comes to operational reliability and potential cost reductions.

Transparent, adhesive lubricants for large open gear drives offer clear advantages over conventional black

adhesive lubricants.

A large share of the worldwide total open gears in operation, high- as well as low-speed, are already lubricated with these transparent fluids and their number is likely to increase in the near future.

For closed gears, polyglycolbased lubricants are one option to considerably increase the degree of energy efficiency and, hence, to decrease operating costs.

Both manufacturers and operators can increase efficiency

Generally, lubricants are required when surfaces sliding or rolling against each other need to be separated to ease mechanic friction.

When deciding on a lubricant, it is important to consider various conditions to find the most efficient and cost-effective solution for a particular friction point.

The following must be taken into account: (1) The entire tribological system including the base body, opposing body, intermediate substance and surrounding media; (2) Influencing parameters such as condition of the gear, operating temperature, speed, vibrations, etc.

This complex subject matter does not only affect the manufacturers (OEM) of components and equipment for the production of minerals, but also the operators of mining plants.

The consistent, applicationoriented implementation of the evaluation procedure described above leads to significant cost decreases for maintenance and repair when conducted by operators of mining plants with the support of a tribologist or application expert.

Transparent lubricants benefit open gear drives

Currently, most girth gears are lubricated with black adhesive lubricants. Operators have been familiar with this type of lubricant for decades and are considered as the latest and best standard lubricant for this kind of application.

Due to this long tradition, many operators are reluctant to change from black lubricants to transparent

TREATMENT OF TOOTH FLANKS AND REPAIR LUBRICATION CAN BE PROVIDED BY TRIBOLOGISTS.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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lubricants.

They fear that they lack efficiency due to the lack of solid particles, but the advantages of transparent lubricants over black lubricants are very convincing: • They are suitable for all kinds of open gear lubrication systems and do not block the system – not even parts of it as they do not contain any solid particles.

• They have proven to be successful in both mill and kiln drives and are suitable for high-speed and low-speed applications as well as for low- and high-temperature conditions.

• Significant reduction of lubrication quantities is possible, approximately 30-50 per cent, sometimes even more, depending on the condition of the drive.

• As the lubricant film’s thickness exceeds that of conventional lubricants considerably, friction surfaces are optimally separated and softer engagement is achieved.

• As the lubricant film is transparent, it is easier and safer to maintain and inspect the condition of the engaged tooth flanks.

• The drive is cleaner and more convenient to clean and maintain.

• Less and easier maintenance due to lower lubricant consumption.

• Reduction of storage costs and the required storage area.

• In summary, operation is much more efficient and economical.

As manufacturers of large gear drives, as well as the mining plant operators, require longer gear lifetime, less downtime and maintenance needs, the future of operational lubricants will be “transparent.”

These state-of-the-art fluids, combined with the right professional support, eg, technical and commercial before and after the sale service are convincing more and more operators to replace a large part of the black adhesive lubricants step by step.

Synthetic oils improve performance

Closed gears play an ever-increasing role in mineral processing plants. The general industry demand for more performance at decreased operating

ASSET MANAGEMENT

TREATING A LARGE GEAR DRIVE.

costs also applies to them, as gears must transfer even more power while attaining a longer lifetime and requiring fewer downtimes.

As the potential for constructional solutions offered by bearings, gear teeth, shafts and seals has been exploited in many cases, speciality lubricants have an important role to play.

Closed gears are normally lubricated with high-quality, doped mineral oils, which meet all requirements in terms of resistance to pressure, speeds and temperatures if the gear has been designed properly.

With rising performance requirements, however, mineral oils reach their limit, especially in terms of thermal resistance.

Oils with higher viscosity or fluid greases with extreme pressure or antiwear additives are therefore needed.

If the fretting risk is particularly high, there is a tendency to use synthetic

oils (on the basis of polyalphaolefins or polyglycols).

Polyalphaolefins are miscible with mineral oils and extend oil-change intervals, compared to mineral oils approximately three-fold.

Polyglycols, which are not miscible with mineral oils, extend oil change intervals even up to five-fold and increase the efficiency of closed gears by up to 10 per cent.

The potential energy savings generated with these oils lead to significantly lower operating costs.

Obtaining objectives through tribological support

The potential of specialty lubricants in combination with tribological knowledge, service and support is demonstrated by the following example.

A processing plant in South America was confronted with a problem of a worn-out double pinion mill drive,

AUSTRALIANMINING

which was also subject to strong vibration. Due to serious damage, one production line was in danger of a longer unplanned maintenance interruption.

Klüber was contacted for support, and immediately after having received the request, a service support team visited the plant in order to get a clear impression of the existing operating conditions.

A thorough examination led to the recommendation of a mechanical treatment for the complete gear, combined with a number of adjustment settings and a changeover from the low-budget standard open gear lubricant to Klüberfluid C-F 3 synthetic transparent lubricant, which provides a softer engagement.

Although this kind of transparent fluid for the lubrication of open girth gear drives had not been used before, the responsible plant managers agreed to the suggestions of the tribology specialists.

Within six days, the necessary mechanical work was started, the lubrication system was checked and adjusted, and repair lubrication was completed.

During this time, the plant staff was trained by the service support team on mechanical treatment, on optimum adjustment and maintenance of lubrication systems and on how to choose and use the optimum lubricants in their areas of responsibility.

The plant operator appreciated the good results of these combined measures, confirming an overall increase in operational safety and efficiency: • Operating conditions have been improved considerably, as dangerous vibrations could be reduced significantly.

• Optimum separation of the friction partners due to a 10 times stronger

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lubricant film compared to the previously used lubricant, leading to an extended lifetime of the components. The result is reduced maintenance and material costs.

• The transparency of the lubricant film allows for constant monitoring of the repaired tooth flanks even when the mill is running.

Any possible problems can be anticipated easily, and the right type of action can be planned and initiated in time. This possibility of preventive maintenance leads to increased operational safety.

• Due to the high quality of the new open gear lubricant, relubrication intervals can be extended significantly, which results in a reduction of the lubricant consumption by at least 50 per cent.

In summary, operators aim at preventing failures, lowering operating costs and increasing production quantities.

Although it is often underestimated, the right lubricant can contribute significantly to obtaining these goals by providing an optimum separation of the friction partners even under extreme conditions, extending maintenance and oil-change intervals, as machines do not have to be relubricated as often.

Costs for spare parts can be saved, as the right lubricant reduces wear and considerably increases the life of components. This also results in fewer failures and greater machine efficiency, so that targeted production quantities can be achieved and even increased.

To make use of the full potential, it is important to involve tribologists and application experts in the development process of machinery components for mining plants. The operators of existing plants should also consult tribologists to optimise their plant’s operation. AM

INDUSTRY COMMENT

ZAMEL SHINES LIGHT ON TECH IMPORTANCE AT AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST UNDERGROUND OPERATORS CONFERENCE AS DEPOSITS GET DEEPER, OPERATORS ARE LOOKING FOR MORE PRODUCTIVE AND COST-EFFICIENT WAYS TO MINE, JUST ONE OF THE KEY TOPICS THE AUSTRALASIAN INSTITUTE OF MINING AND METALLURGY (AUSIMM) WILL ADDRESS AT THE UNDERGROUND OPERATORS CONFERENCE 2020.

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eld in Perth from March 25-27, the conference will bring together mining engineers, operators, technical service managers and consultants to discuss the evolution of digital technology, automation and artificial intelligence (AI).

Attendees will have the opportunity to tour mines, including Newcrest Mining’s Telfer gold mine, Independence Group’s Nova nickel mine, Northern Star Resources’ Kanowna Belle gold mine, EMR Capital’s Golden Grove and AngloGold Ashanti’s Sunrise Dam mine.

The site visits will allow delegates to observe how some operations are already working to tackle mining deeper and lower grade deposits.

Back in the city, the conference will offer workshops providing professional development

opportunities and technical papers with an operational focus.

Several experts in the field will offer their wisdom, including CommChain executive chairman and founder Gary Zamel, who has dedicated his mining innovation career to ensuring a prosperous industry across Australia.

Zamel founded MST Global in 1989 and Jellinbah Resources coal operations in 1988. As the director of MST Global and NFP Outcomes Australia, Zamel has more than 30 years’ experience as a private equity investor in technology, mining and industrial ventures.

He has also established several successful technology startup companies such as Pacific Tunnelling, Park Assist, Group Homes Australia, Benthic Geotech, Nubian Water Systems, Wikistrat and Ringwood Superabrasives.

Heading into the Underground Operators Conference, Zamel hopes

AUSIMM’S UNDERGROUND OPERATORS CONFERENCE IS THE LARGEST CONFERENCE OF ITS TYPE IN AUSTRALIA.

AUSTRALIANMINING

to provide attendees with valuable insight into the importance of understanding existing technology from not just the resource sector, but from other industries that can be carried across into mining.

“Inspiring young engineers to take up the challenge to invest time and effort into understanding technology from other industries that can migrate and customise into mining is a message I would like to highlight to the delegates,” Zamel says.

“We don’t want to keep reinventing, and there remains an incredible amount of new technologies already at our disposal, ready for the industry to embrace.”

One of these technologies Zamel wants to see taken advantage of in Australia is blockchain, a peerto-peer topology allowing data to be stored on thousands of servers globally.

This data can be shared efficiently between open and private business networks, while letting anyone on the networks see entries in near-real time.

Zamel says it isn’t only up to mining companies to invest in blockchain, but also for the state and federal governments to contribute to supporting this innovation.

“Mining companies need to trial and pilot blockchain initiatives in order to review what is on offer from a position of knowledge and understanding,” he says.

“Government must provide assistance in the way other nations like Singapore and Israel are committing to next generation AI and blockchain, which won’t happen unless we work in a collaborative manner. With the right levels of required support, Australia can play a particularly important role when it comes to mining and blockchain, as the Australian mining industry already has a reputation as a leader in

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digitisation amongst their peers.”

Taking on technology-related research and development projects is a commercial risk for METS companies, so both industry and external support are required to continue sustainably funding innovation projects with the latest technology trends.

Without this support, mining risks falling behind other industries that are already using next-generational technologies to drive productivity improvements.

Although Zamel believes the industry requires support from national leaders, he also encourages leaders within the industry itself to stand up for the future of the industry.

“METS companies on their own won’t achieve the required results” Zamel warns.

“Education in technology commercialisation needs to be sponsored by the mining industry if results are to drive the required level of success. We need to be championing innovation and getting behind these projects from the inside.”

As well as his thoughts on the industry as a whole, Zamel will share his personal experience in forming several successful start-up companies in the technology sector.

Zamel attributes his success to “persistence, patience and perseverance” and “thinking globally from the kick-off.”

“You need to bring talent into the team that creates a culture of innovation,” he explains.

“It’s also important to make sure you have the capacity to fund or raise funds from the right sources that will go the journey.” AM AusIMM’s Underground Operators Conference will be held at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre on March 25-27, 2020.

INDUSTRY COMMENT PERTH WILL HOST THE FIFTH STAGING OF THE AUSTMINE EVENT.

MINING INNOVATION ROADSHOW RETURNS TO PERTH SOME OF AUSTRALIA’S LEADING MINING ORGANISATIONS WILL BE IN PERTH NEXT MONTH WHEN AUSTMINE HOLDS THE INNOVATION EVENT FOR THE FIFTH TIME.

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ith mining companies across the world considering their approach to driving sustainable future growth, Austmine is bringing the industry together to explore and unpack automation, energy, partnerships and more at the Perth Mining Innovation Roadshow.

Taking place on Thursday March 19, this one-day conference will feature case studies of successful technology adoption, strategic roadmaps of major mining houses, breakout problemsolving sessions and exclusive opportunities to connect with Australia’s mining innovation leaders.

Austmine is Australia’s leading industry association for the mining equipment, technology and services (METS) sector.

With an aim to develop and drive

sustainable growth of the METS sector, forums such as the Innovation Roadshow are critical in connecting the mining ecosystem and finding opportunities for shared value and technological progress.

The Perth event will be the fifth edition of the Austmine Innovation Roadshow, which has also previously stopped in Brisbane, Newcastle and Adelaide.

Previous Austmine events have demonstrated the power of driving open conversations throughout the mining value chain and providing platforms for collaborative approach to address major industry challenges.

Christine Gibbs Stewart, Austmine’s CEO, reflected on the impressive group thinking that emerged from the last roadshow in Adelaide, which featured mining companies such as BHP, OZ Minerals and Société Le Nickel (SLN, New

AUSTRALIANMINING

Caledonia), along with industryleading METS organisations such as Liebherr, Downer and Maptek.

“It is incredible what can be achieved when a diverse group of thinkers is brought together to tackle common challenges,” Gibbs Stewart said.

“At the roadshow, it was particularly pleasing to observe the plethora of new ideas being generated to drive future proof practices for the mining industry.

“Participants seamlessly linked social licence opportunities with technological breakthroughs that we have seen in areas of artificial intelligence and simulation, ultimately to ensure a prosperous future for our employees, businesses and communities.”

From these discussions, focus groups have emerged and relationships have been established to turn ideas

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into commercial opportunities and collaborative undertakings.

The Perth event will seek to buildupon this discussion and drive the innovation conversation forward.

“We are looking forward to hosting discussions in Perth which has truly emerged as a global mining innovation hub,” Gibbs Stewart said.

“There will be a tremendous amount of knowledge to be captured and shared about local innovation and capabilities, including autonomous mining, energy transformation and mineral extraction.

“With the roadshow demonstrating the best in Australian mining innovation, the METS sector should be excited and optimistic about the future.” AM For more information about the innovation roadshow visit http:// innovationroadshow.austmine.com.au/

MATERIALS HANDLING LOADSCAN’S CUSTOM MOUNT LVS TECHNOLOGY BEING USED AT AN UNDERGROUND MINE SITE.

LOADSCAN GIVES MINING AUTOMATED LOAD VOLUME SCANNING LOADSCAN HAS BEEN PROVIDING SERVICES TO THE CIVIL CONSTRUCTION AND BARK AND MULCH INDUSTRIES FOR TWO DECADES, BUT ITS ENTRANCE INTO MINING ONLY BEGAN IN 2010.

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ayne West established the first load volume scanner (LVS) in 1998 in Hamilton, New Zealand to solve the problem of inaccurate counting of loads of material arriving at his civil construction sites.

A year after its inception, the scanner was certified in New Zealand and adopted by industries like quarrying, mulching and sand and gravel pits.

The interest from the mining industry followed and it now accounts for 50 per cent of Loadscan’s

business.

Loadscan’s LVS technology allows miners to measure ore body to determine the correct volume measurements, which can be easily miscalculated when using conventional methods.

The LVS provides miners with real-time detailed load information, which assists them to make better decisions that can markedly improve operational efficiency, productivity and safety.

Loadscan director Carey West, son of Wayne West, says the load volume scanning systems is a non-contact automated system and the trucks are scanned by simply driving below an AUSTRALIANMINING

elevated scan head.

Using radio frequency idenfitification (RFID) tags to identify every truck and trailer, miners can fully automate the scanning process.

“With a simple drive-through scan, the system will provide a volumetric measurement as well as 3D load profile of the load and converts that to tonnes using a known conversion factor,” West says.

“The miners can then determine whether the trucks have been loaded to their optimal capacity, thereby improving their trucking factors.”

The LoadScan 3D Payload Profiler gives a graphical load representation

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for visual load shape and distribution feedback. This assists operators to detect off-centre or unsafe loading.

West says the system requires little maintenance, as it is a non-contact measurement system without wear parts, and it has approximately a 16-year-plus lifespan.

“We have encountered minimal issues where the team has had to travel to sites to repair the system. It is a robust and durable system.” West says.

“We align the scan head to the scan track below and delineate that track so the trucks stay within it, then they can just drive under the scanner,” West explains.

MATERIALS HANDLING

LOADSCAN DIRECTOR CAREY WEST, SON OF COMPANY FOUNDER WAYNE WEST.

“This is unlike the weighing systems, where the trucks have to stop to get a measurement.”

For weigh pad systems, harsh environments can mean a lot of ongoing servicing and calibration costs.

It can be trickier for operators to determine whether the equipment requires maintenance or if it is simply out of calibration due to their inconsistency – the only hint being the operators suspecting they are not getting the right result.

Being fully non-contact, load scanning technology doesn’t even require calibration, another advantage it offers over weighing systems.

Loadscan also offers its LoadTrak in-cab console system for further accuracy, which allows the truck operator to input load information while the loading takes place.

“This is particularly useful in the underground mining space where operators don’t always have communications or WiFi systems throughout the whole mine,” West explains. “With the LoadTrak unit, drivers are gathering information about the ore quality, so they are able to dump high and low grade at different locations to separate it.”

Once the driver has confirmed that the information entered is correct, the LoadTrack unit automatically

goes into sleep mode so it does not shine in operators’ eyes when driving out of the portal.

This provides a data stream with the information such as date, time, truck details and direction of travel, so it can be used to educate drivers and mine operators.

After installing the scanner technology, Aeris Resources discovered it was previously underloading its trucks by 9.7 per cent at the Tritton mine in New South Wales.

“With the scanner, they were able to educate their operators on how to load the trucks to the maximum capacity and consistently,” West says.

“They increased their trucking factor by 9.7 per cent, which equated to $US430,000 ($625,000) a month, ultimately resulting in a lower cost per tonne hauled.”

Using Loadscan’s 3D profiles to detect overloaded haul trucks has also added safety benefits, as operators can see off centre loading.

How a load is distributed in the truck tray also affects the wear on tires and machine, as well as safety on the haul road. Miners can avoid expensive tire blow-outs and protect their equipment by loading trucks correctly.

“If someone is always overloading a truck to the left then you’re putting a lot more stress on the body and tyres as the truck travels along the haul road,” West says.

“If the weight is always sitting on one side, it mechanically affects the truck and wears out the tyres faster.”

A correctly loaded vehicle also leads to less vibration in the cab for drivers’ comfort and safety, and more predictable truck behaviour.

Loadscan understands that mining is experiencing significant change with technology and automation, so it has a team of technicians that travel all over the world to assist its clients.

“When we sell our equipment we always travel to the site and spend three to four days on site helping with the commissioning and training their staff so they are able to use it.”

“We’ve always been an industry leader because we’ve been around for so long and we’re the only system that has trade certification for road trucks in Australia and here in New Zealand,” Carey adds.

Today, Loadscan is fielding global interest for their load volume scanners and its application is booming in the mining industry. AM

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MATERIALS HANDLING

FENNER DUNLOP’S ULTRA TUFF ABRASION RESISTANT BELTING JUST GOT BETTER EMPLOYING A TEAM OF CHEMISTS AND ENGINEERS, FENNER DUNLOP HAS ENSURED THE NEXT GENERATION ULTRA TUFF COVER COMPOUND MEETS THE DEMANDS FOR THEIR CUSTOMER BASE. FENNER DUNLOP’S NEXT GENERATION ULTRA TUFF COVER COMPOUND IS USED AT MINE SITES ACROSS AUSTRALIA.

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enner Dunlop takes an uncompromising approach to improving its Ultra Tuff abrasion resistant compound with every new generation that is released to the marketplace.

The Next Generation Ultra Tuff, which Fenner Dunlop launched in November 2019, is no exception and has involved in-house chemists, operations personnel and engineers during the development process.

Constantly raising the standard of premium products already established in the market, rather than starting from scratch to improve the design and manufacture, is a key reason why Fenner Dunlop has made Ultra Tuff a recognised name in the iron ore and related industries.

Fenner Dunlop general manager, sales and marketing Trevor Svenson says the company takes pride in constantly improving the abrasion resistance of the Ultra Tuff

compound.

“The Ultra Tuff compound development has always had abrasion resistance front of mind, and the main driver was to develop it for the next generation without compromising the other characteristics of the belt performance when placed into operation,” Svenson says.

“We didn’t want to give up the impact resistance and we didn’t want to trade off on the elongation of the product whislt improving the abrasion resistance.”

Ultra Tuff has been available for seven years but Fenner Dunlop has not grown complacent with the standard of the belt compound’s abrasion resistance.

Fenner Dunlop’s commitment to the product is highlighted by the number of key stakeholders from the company and customer base that are involved in the products ongoing development.

AUSTRALIANMINING

Svenson says the product has been independently tested by TUNRA, with the results clearly showing a step change in abrasion resistance, taking the product to the next level.

“As it has been independently tested and verified, we are confident that it is the benchmark for abrasion resistance in the Australian mining industry,” Svenson says.

Mine sites, from iron ore, hard rock mines to coal operations, require abrasion resistant compounds to reduce belt wear for conveying material.

One of Ultra Tuff’s latest improvements is ensuring a longer belt life, extending the time between belt changes and reducing shutdown intervals.

“The high abrasion resistance compound is suitable for short cycle high wear applications. For example, ship loading applications for multiple commodities are prime candidates for the Next Generation Ultra Tuff

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compound.

Fenner Dunlop’s Western Australian-based Tier 1 mining customers have been among the first to adopt the product, as it is ideally suiting to their highy abrasive mining conditions.

“This product development along with many Fenner Dunlop products was based on feedback from the client in terms of what they’re looking for out of their belts and conveyor systems,” Svenson says.

Fenner Dunlop prioritises designing and manufacturing its products in Australia, with the Next Generation Ultra Tuff being produced locally at its state-of-theart Kwinana manufacturing facility in Western Australian.

Svenson believes Fenner Dunlop’s locally-based team is another contributing factor to the success of Ultra Tuff, as it focusses on developing innovative products based on what the market is asking for and always remaining close to the customer base to support the product is central to Fenner Dunlop’s way of doing business.

“We’ve been working with a number of clients on this product for a number of years,” Svenson says. “Over the years they’ve seen different iterations of the product and have worked with and supported Fenenr Dunlop through trials in mining applications.”

It’s not just the chemists, engineers and designers that are based locally to develop the product; Fenner Dunlop has 20 branches Australia-wide, located in key mining regions to support its clients.

In true Fenner Dunlop style, even though the Next Generation Ultra Tuff is only a recent release, the local team is already working on how to improve the abrasion resistance of this compound.

“At Fenner Dunlop we continue to push the boundaries in terms of product development backed by a support network of 20 branches nationally and 1000 employees in Australia,” Svenson concludes. AM

MATERIALS HANDLING

LASE’S SCREENING TECHNOLOGY GIVES A MORE ACCURATE CONTACTLESS MEASUREMENT.

WEIGHING UP THE ADVANTAGES OF LASE SCANNING TECHNOLOGY LASE OFTEN CALLS ITS LASER MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS THE EYES OF MACHINES, HELPING USERS TO SEE MORE WITH THEIR VOLUME MEASUREMENT TO ANSWER MANY COMMONLY ASKED MATERIALS HANDLING QUESTIONS.

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ASE’s one, two and three-dimensional systems combine laser and other sophisticated technology, providing accurate profiling of materials and measuring volume.

The German-based company is implementing its laser systems in a range of industries worldwide, including ports, logistics, steel, building automation, waste and is breaking into the mining industry.

LASE’s scanners develop threedimensional images of whole heaps of mined material which, using the LASE developed application software, calculate a precise volume of the heap.

According to LASE Australia general manager Lars Mohr, one of the key advantages of using laser scanners to measure material volume rather than weight is consistency, as the volume does not really change regardless of whether the material is wet or dry.

“Measuring volume and not weight gives a more accurate contactless measurement,” Mohr tells Australian Mining. “If your material is very wet,

the weight is heavier but regardless of if it is wet or dry, the content volume will stay almost the same.

“There have been situations in construction, for example, where companies have required seven tonnes of sand but instead, they have received five tonnes of sand and two tonnes of water.”

Since mining companies often measure based on the weight in tonnes rather than volume, once the volume is calculated, the process of converting the number into weight is simple.

For more advanced operations, including remote operations, LASE also designs multi-layer scanners, which provide users with a better view of the detection area for collision prevention.

“Multi-layer scanners use twodimensional laser scan planes, the most recent of which has up to 64 scan planes, which gives you more of a view of a lot more detection areas,” Mohr says.

“That gives us more opportunity to redefine our existing systems by using multilayer scanners, so that can improve our own systems and AUSTRALIANMINING

therefore benefit the customer.”

LASE’s volume scanning can be completed while for example the load is still on board the truck, rather than removing it, saving time and manpower at the mine site.

Using LASE’s high-resolution laser scanners, the material can even be recorded while the truck is still travelling at high speed.

“With a dump truck you need to stop the truck to measure the weight,” Mohr explains. “Our truck volume measurement system means drivers do not need to stop the truck under the measuring system.”

“Lasers are able to measure the volume within the truck bed, so if the site has a gantry the laser scanner can be mounted on top of it and the truck only needs to pass through the gantry and the content will be measured while moving.”

Measuring volume and collision areas with laser scanners also improves the safety of operations.

“The machine awareness systems for example give remote operated machines the ability to detect if there is another machine approaching,” Mohr says.

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LASE has seen the combined advantages of multilayer scanning technology when providing machinery to the port industry, where it has lowered the risk of vessel damage.

“We have developed a hatch detection system, which is a very interesting application for multilayer technology,” Mohr says.

“This prevents ship unloaders from hitting the hatch in port, which causes serious damage to both the vessel and the machine.”

This technology can be translated to mining to prevent gantry collision in weigh stations at mines, something LASE is implementing to minimise gantry damage. Or also to present hangry collision.

Introducing laser scanning technology in a weigh station, in remote opeated equipment, gives operators more eyes on operations, both for providing more accurate insights to the material being processed and keeping workers safe.

“These systems are the eyes of the machines, so operators know clearly what is happening at the site,” Mohr concludes. AM

MATERIALS HANDLING

DOUBLE LAYER CONVEYOR BELTS COLUMBUS GROUP CHIEF EXECUTIVE DONALD YATES GIVES INSIGHT INTO HOW TO IMPROVE THE PERFORMANCE OF CONVEYOR BELTS IN A WAY THAT MAY NOT HAVE PREVIOUSLY BEEN CONSIDERED.

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ometimes, making more of the small gains can really add up, particularly when questioning the long and established norms of how things can be done.

Moving ores around your mine site are often the tasks of thick, robust conveyor belts. But should this paradigm be put on the R&D test table?

Making things thicker will usually make things stronger. On the other hand, two layers separated by appropriate spacers is a wellaccepted strong and reduced weight practice in a whole range of applications.

And the same double layer practical design start point can be applied to all those conveyor belt installations.

The gains can be overall lighter weights so less energy is used to drive them, but it can go further with other incorporated features like controlled dynamic sections that act like built in shock absorbers at the ore loading point, and even dust control along the whole length of the belt.

In looking at the whole life of a double layer conveyor belt, it can start onsite by being 3D printed with all the incorporated features in extra-

long life auxetic (bullet resistant) materials and SMA (shape memory alloys) for active intervention control of the belt itself while running.

No longer should conveyor belts be just a passive element in the ore handling integrated processing works.

Then looking at the end-of-life of a double layer conveyor belt, the product package has just been recognised with a 2019 Sustainability Awards’ Highly Commended prize in waste elimination because these particular conveyor belts can be applied to growing meadows of seagrass that can generate substantial blue carbon credits.

Surely this is better that burying the worn belts on a mine site in the hope they will be forgotten when another purpose is readily at hand.

effort to restore the performance of the mill while minimalising the time of the mill being offline.

And when such SAG and AG mills might be generating a range of clear mining net activity profits between $5000 and $10,000 per hour, for every hour, then the shutdown of some days, is having a real detrimental effect on profit.

For example, three days or 72 hours of no mill activity, could be a loss of almost $400,000, which you cannot catch up. For the bigger mills, with say four complete changeouts per year, this is getting serious, with a loss in the order of $3 million per year just for the poor practices related to changeouts.

Now before saying that is an acceptable situation, it is possible to adopt an external, practical

Pick and peel away liners and lifter bars

THE TECHNOLOGIES ARE AT THE LEADING EDGE OF 3D PRINTING STRATEGIES. MULTIPLE PRINTERS WORK TOGETHER IN PRINTING VERY BIG ROBUST STRUCTURES IN VERY LITTLE TIME.”

One aspect not forgotten is the AG and SAG mills are often fed by those conveyor belts. Typically, three or four times a year, the mill processing area near these mills goes silent because the same mills have been shutdown for a changeout of the internal liners and lifter bars.

Specialist crews arrive onsite and set about doing an internal rebuild of the mill, in an around-the-clock

technology called ‘pick and peel away’ liners and lifter bars.

To restore the height difference between liners and the lifter bars, so achieving the same performance gains of a full changeout of the consumables within a SAG or AG mill. To do this in a theoretical perspective, the worn top and leading edge of a lifter bar are removed.

Similarly, the relative height of the mill liners, between the lifter bars, all bolted to the rotating shell, have to be reduced in height, so the relative lifter bar profiles and heights with respect to each other are restored.

Now to undertake this proposed ‘refreshing’ of the liners and lifter bars, it then becomes a simple process to just ‘remove’ a layer, which can be achieved externally just by undoing certain progressively shorter retaining bolts so that the no longer required, worn lifter bar layers and liners drop into the mill and breakup.

There is no need to enter the mill.

There is no need to add new liners and lifter bars on such a regular basis as in the old changeout methods.

In standard practice, the internal liners and lifters are replaced in a procedure that causes a loss of some 12 days per year, and the new profile sets are only available for

COLUMBUS GROUP MAKES SMALL CONVEYOR SYSTEM PRODUCTIVITY GAINS POSSIBLE. AUSTRALIANMINING

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MATERIALS HANDLING

SHUTDOWNS CAN BE MINIMISED WITH THE COLUMBUS GROUP METHOD.

the purpose of grinding every three months before wearing down and performance is lost again.

With the proposed replacement of liner and lifter bar profiles, these sets of liners and lifter bars in sets of three are preloaded twice a year.

Then every two months, one set is dropped away exposing a refreshed liner and lifter bar combination inside the SAG or AG mill, without entering the mill, just by externally and progressively changing to shorter retaining bolts.

The bottom line savings are only two full changeouts per year, not four, with simple ‘refreshing of the profiles every couple of months. The bottom line gains are some 120 hours of extra profitable production per year from a SAG or AG mill fitted out with appropriately designed liners and lifter bars than do not have to be over-engineered to last longer in such a tough environment.

The ‘Pick and Peel Away or PaPa’ liner and lifter bar system can be designed for rubber only, rubber and steel and steel only consumables, in most preferred profiles.

Applying 3D printers to AG & SAG mills

It would seem that 3D printers are being called on to do so much more

these days, and the production of liners and lifter bars for AG and SAG mills is no exception.

However, instead of the predictable individual production of replacement consumables that are manually installed on a regular basis changeout shutdown, to get the real benefits of 3D printers, now is the time to apply them in printing the liners and lifter bars, inside the AG or SAG mill in one print run.

The technologies are at the leading edge of 3D printing strategies. Multiple printers work together in printing very big robust structures in very little time.

It starts by removing all the internal liners and lifter bars plus the standard studs, bolts, nuts and seals.

They are no longer needed.

Broken and loose bolts and leaking holes losing product are no longer the big issue. Enter a robust arm carrying the many 3D printers, that stretches from the discharge end, through the shell to the feed end of the main AG or SAG mill core body.

As the mill is inched slowly around, high pressure water jets clean away the milled product just before the structure re-enters the load at the bottom of the mill.

As each section is exposed, it is quickly and autonomously measured AUSTRALIANMINING

to develop a real time ‘map’ of the internal mill’s surface. This is compared to the required internal mill profile and the 3D printing build up reconstruction task is defined.

At this point the robust arm with effectively many hundreds of 3D printing composite overlay heads, with adjusting depth of print capabilities, puts down the appropriate liner and lifter bar profile. The composite overlay 3D printing bonds through the original holes in the AG or SAG mill shell (where the bolting structures were originally), and builds up a 3D printed robust overlay, usually of an interconnected structure and a tough long lasting fill nature, to complete the wanted liner or lifter bar profile.

Once done, the AG or SAG mill inches on and the process of clean, measure and then 3D print is repeated. It is as simple as that.

The repeat of the ‘Project 9’ procedure is recommended every three months to ensure that milling performance is maintained. And it is easy to optimise the internal liner and lifter bar profiles, just by changing the specification data base that drives the 3D printers.

Depending on the size of the AG or SAG mill, it is estimated that a gain of 320 or more hours of

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production per mill is possible.

That’s an amazing two weeks of extra production not lost to shutdowns. And no loose bolts with lost product to grab your attention.

And no crews having to enter the mill at any time after the AG or SAG mill is prepared for introduction of the 3D printed system. 3D printing definitely has some serious costeffective advantages.

Self rebuilding long life chutes Not to rest on our laurels, the AG and SAG Mill 3D printing can be applied almost singularly to chutes.

The chutes are already constructed of dynamic revolving hardened balls to share the wear.

But when wear is a problem, the modules can be easily replaced or a ball repair mechanism added to the underneath of the chute assembly.

Balls detected as showing irregular wear can be resized and rebuilt as needed, online, with no manual intervention.

Similar technology to that used in Project 9 SAG or AG mills rebuilds the surface with appropriate cleaning, measurement and 3D printing, without removal of the complete chute. Indeed, it can still act like a chute during the rebuild process. AM

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CAT R2900 LOADER LAUNCH TO TURN HEADS HASTINGS DEERING IS DELIVERING THE PRODUCTIVITY, GREEN AND SAFETY NEEDS OF ITS MINING COMPANY PARTNERS WITH THE RELEASE OF THE CAT R2900 UNDERGROUND LOADER. AUSTRALIAN MINING WRITES.

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here are growing calls for mining companies to improve how they tell the stories of their achievements to make the industry more sustainable.

The escalating demand for sustainable practices has equipment suppliers such as Hastings Deering offering new products that contribute to this cause without compromising safety or productivity.

According to Hastings Deering product manager, underground hard rock vehicles Rob Shea, the Australian mining sector’s sustainability credentials are not always spoken about, but the country “leads the world in a lot of respects.”

“Caterpillar does a lot of its product development and testing in Australia for the Australian market because we lead the world,” Shea tells Australian Mining.

“We have always been at the forefront of environmental sustainability in mining here in Queensland, but also Australia in general.”

Mining companies are acquiring the latest mining equipment with the highest emissions standards not only for their social licence to operate, Shea says. They are also motivated by a constant willingness to improve.

“We have customers in Australia that are still willing to adopt these standards because they’re the global best practice, not because regulations require it,” Shea says.

The Australian mining community is well aware that other parts of the world, like North America, pose stricter legislative requirements.

It is also why an original equipment manufacturer like Caterpillar developed its latest R2900 underground loader with regulatory compliance in mind.

The loader is known for its stage five-friendly engine, boasting the highest emissions standard that anyone can attain for a machine in the industry.

“The EU stage five standard is not legislated in Australia, but we have got mining companies who are looking to reduce emissions because of their own social and corporate responsibility and for the safety and wellbeing of their people,” Shea says.

“We’ve chosen to bring in one of the R2900s because customers are aggressively pursuing their green targets and chasing the latest technologies, and this machine appeals to them.”

Unlike surface mining operations, air in an underground mine is confined by the virtue of being inside a tunnel.

And despite having proper ventilation,

workers are exposed to exhaust emissions in an underground mine.

Operators have the option to use Caterpillar’s ventilation reduction system as an alternative to the EU stage five engine package. It uses wall flow diesel particulate filters for improved underground air quality.

“This new design is more of an evolutionary change. It builds off the strengths of its predecessor, with an updated engine package and frame design to enable better sustainability and maintainability,” Shea says.

The R2900 has a modular architecture whereby parts are no longer welded into the machine.

It provides greater flexibility for mining operators to perform maintenance activities, particularly for parts that are difficult to maintain or may require regular maintenance.

These parts can now be removed from the machine and replaced with another, keeping the machine going for longer.

“Safety is always one of Hastings’ key drivers, the same with Caterpillar.

But so is sustainability,” Shea says.

“Even before sustainability was a popular theme in the industry, it has always been part of the fabric of Cat designs and machines. They’re built to be rebuilt, not used for one time.

“The biggest focus that we’re going

THE CAT R2900 LOADER OFFERS CATERPILLAR’S VENTILATION REDUCTION SYSTEM AS AN ALTERNATIVE.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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for in this machine choice is health and safety. That’s achieved through different avenues.”

The release of the R2900 is timed ahead of a sector-wide mobilisation of underground autonomous loaders.

The Cat MineStar Command solution enables various levels of automation with the R2900.

This MineStar technology provides semi-autonomous guidance and assistance, so operators can stay off walls to reduce impact on the machine and infrastructure, through to full automation.

“We’re working on autonomous haulage systems with Caterpillar, and as part of that we’re not only employing people with digital skills but we’re also upskilling our existing people to have that greater tech capability,” Shea says.

This equips them to use R2900’s onboard diagnostic system that informs operators of any issues ahead of time and remotely.

It helps mining companies get the most out of their machine in its lifetime while achieving production targets.

“The R2900 can support mining companies in their journey to be more sustainable in the long-run. Its focus on health and safety improvement doesn’t compromise its status as a benchmark in productivity for the size class,” Shea says. AM

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FUTURE OF MINING

ABB MAPS OUT PATH TO MINE ELECTRIFICATION THE CASE FOR MINE ELECTRIFICATION IS ABOUT MORE THAN TECHNOLOGY ADVANCEMENT. IT ALSO HAS THE POTENTIAL TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE INDUSTRY. AUSTRALIAN MINING WRITES.

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ll-electric mines don’t seem so far-fetched when the environmental pressures being faced by the mining industry are considered.

A negative public perception towards the mining sector can in part be attributed to its links to fossil fuels.

As fund managers and investors are pushing towards more ethical investment choices, mining’s reputation is an increasingly important factor driving investor decisions.

More than ever, the sector’s reputation is playing a role in its ability to secure funding and deliver growth aspirations.

However, this comes as a doubleedged sword. Public expectations can also give electrification projects a higher priority in the sector, according to ABB vice president of global mining Max Luedtke.

“Mining has a bad reputation because of what it’s done in the past, but mining itself is a very important business in our society,” Luedtke tells Australian Mining at the 2019 International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) in Melbourne.

“Even if we want to go all-electric (as a society), our electric cars will need more mines. But we need more mines in the right way.”

ABB manager mining automation in Western Australia, Richard Marsh believes major companies understand the importance of electrification as they work towards carbon neutral operations by 2050.

It is “a very big commitment but a very serious commitment,” Marsh says.

“People are being recruited into roles that are driving mining companies to have that capability.”

The conversion to an all-electric mine makes business sense for a number of reasons.

Even though polluting energy sources are the cheapest today, operators often forget to account for their secondary cost in calculating the total price tag.

“If you have a fair energy price and calculate all the costs of your energy as well as its environmental costs, including the cost of decommissioning nuclear power plants, an all-electric

mine becomes very economic,” ABB global manager for automation and digital in mining Martin Knabenhans says.

“The efficiency of an electric drive train is also much, much higher than that of a combustion engine. And quite quickly an all-electric mine becomes sustainable.”

Electric machines also incur lower costs because they require less maintenance and therefore reduce equipment downtime.

In fact, a prevailing benefit of electric machinery that was highlighted during IMARC was equipment availability.

Diesel-powered mining trucks can result in excessive downtime due to internal mechanisms related to the gear box, lubrication system and engine that are prone to breakdowns.

An electric-driven train, on the other hand, is much more robust than a combustion engine-powered drive train, Knabenhans, who has 29 years of mechanical experience with ABB, says.

Knabenhans has observed the potential of all-electric mines in North America and Europe, where they facilitate close to 100 per cent renewable energy production.

“If your electricity is produced by fossil fuel, then you’re not in the right place from an ecological point of view,” Knabenhans says.

“Our mission at ABB is electrify whatever your needs be. We are in a very good position to electrify trolley lines and use different charging technologies, such as flash charging and high-power charging, and to manage power.”

ABB has introduced flash charging for buses in Geneva over the past decade. The vehicles are charged every three stops to keep them going all day.

While buses are much smaller than most mining vehicles, the translation of technology is allowing ABB to help mining companies make a transition.

“There are things that mining companies can already do today to

THE WORLD’S FIRST ELECTRIC TROLLEY AT BOLIDEN’S AITIK COPPER MINE IN SWEDEN.

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make a change towards electrification, for example, by using electric buses to transport workers into mine sites before companies put a big investment in electric trucks,” Switzerland-based Ludtke says.

“A mining operation in Canada is thinking about doing this. Mine workers will realise that electric buses work. The buses are much quieter, allowing them to read, talk and do other things.

“Small steps such as this change their mentality on what an electric mine is. We can’t just talk, we also need to show action. That’s what will drive this transformation.”

The impact of mine electrification will not only be enjoyed by the current era of mine workers but also future generations.

Mining is still traditional, yet it will remain highly relevant for many decades. And it is the sector’s responsibility to push electrification to make the industry sustainable, Ludtke concludes. AM

TYRE MANAGEMENT

INNOVATING TYRE MANAGEMENT SERVICES UNDERGROUND KAL TIRE HAS PROVEN THAT TYRE MANAGEMENT IN UNDERGROUND MINING CAN BE AN INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY THAT IMPROVES THE SAFETY AND PRODUCTIVITY OF OPERATIONS.

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nderground mines usually fall way behind open pit sites when it comes to investment in tyre management services.

Australia’s open pit sites are known to spend between $5-10 million a year on earthmover tyres.

They also invest significantly in strategies that improve productivity and safety practices for workers that operate around tyres.

It’s a different story at underground mines. Owners of most underground operations, in contrast, annually spend less than $1 million on their tyres.

Many remote underground operations will also service their tyres in house and will not develop innovation that enhances their management practices.

That’s not to say tyre management innovation isn’t possible in underground mining.

Kal Tire Australia manager – sales and marketing Caleb Pullella says a number of opportunities have emerged that will improve underground mines.

“The maturity of underground operations compared with surface sites just isn’t there yet when it comes to tyre management, but it shouldn’t be overlooked,” Pullella tells Australian Mining.

Underground mines have several unique attributes that make them a more challenging environment than most surface operations, reinforcing the importance of innovation.

For example, fitters are often required to change a tyre on the spot of an incident, almost anywhere across an underground mine network.

Fitters at surface operations, meanwhile, enjoy the luxury of moving equipment to a dedicated tyre bay or safe point to make a change.

“In an underground scenario you could be in a stope or a work situation where the access to the machine isn’t great,” Pullella says.

“The ground that they are working on often isn’t ideal for changing a tyre, but they can’t get the machine to a suitable location to work on it.

“It is important to help them understand the dangers of changing

tyres and have the workers certified, then they can make the change and understand the different risks underground environments pose.”

Kal Tire works at underground sites, big and small, to introduce tyre management strategies for preventative repair and planned maintenance.

As underground tyre changes compromise safety and slow productivity, Kal Tire helps mining companies ensure the rubber that goes to work is fit for the purpose and makes it to the next service.

The Canadian company offers its Tyre Operations Management System (TOMS), a digital tool that reports on key performance indicators, and analyses and recommends actions on tyre and fleets, to support the service.

TOMS has been developed to improve fleet uptime and productivity, but the tool can also help mining companies with predictive maintenance.

Kal Tire also supports risk management with safety programs, processes and training, which is particularly helpful for smaller companies that might not have the scale to invest in their own systems.

“We can provide a full solution to supply and manage all of their tyres and everything that surrounds the tyre and the wheel,” Pullella says.

“Kal Tire is there to help them reduce the overall spend on the tyre, to manage them as an asset and look at them with that respect.

“The programs are also set up to increase the awareness of tyres and safety around them. We will talk to the mine workers about how much each tyre costs and the impact they can have on operations when they are damaged.”

Kal Tire’s servicepeople will routinely analyse the environment of each underground operation that they manage.

This process enables them to identify issues affecting tyre performance and tailor preventative maintenance solutions that aid safety and productivity.

It also enables Kal Tire to find areas where innovation can be applied to underground tyre management

AUSTRALIANMINING

KAL TIRE’S SERVICEPEOPLE ANALYSE THE IMPACT OF EACH UNDERGROUND SITE.

activities.

Kal Tire recommends that underground sites consider using battery-operated equipment so tyre teams don’t have to rely on mine air that can be distant or compromised because of condensation.

“There is always air supply underground and you may not always have a service vehicle available when it is needed,” Pullella says.

“Having battery-operated equipment certainly helps in this case because you remove the potential for mine air with condensation, which can

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ruin your tools.

“You can certainly access and perform all the work you need to with that sort of equipment.”

Above all, Pullella stresses the importance of treating tyres as an asset that can have a major impact on the safety and productivity of an underground operation.

“Tyres are not a consumable, they are an asset and innovation to improve the management of them is possible – if tyres are managed in that respect it makes a big difference,” Pullella concludes. AM

THE MINING INDUSTRY HAS MOVED TO A NEW PHASE FOLLOWING THE MINING BOOM, ONE WHERE PRODUCTIVITY, INNOVATION AND SAFETY HAVE EMERGED AS ITS KEY PRIORITIES TECHNOLOGY MATERIALS HANDLING VOLUME 112/1 | FEBRUARY 2020

CRUSHING & SCREENING

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THE FUTURE OF MINERALS PROCESSING

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Australian Mining’s special features provide organisations with a forum to showcase the role each mining sector plays in helping the industry achieve its modern-day targets.

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INTERVIEW

THERE IS NO LIMIT TO THE SIZE OF BUILDING THAT XXL SHEDS CAN DELIVER.

XXL SHEDS UNDETERRED BY EXTRA-LARGE MACHINERY XXL SHEDS LOOKS AFTER INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS FROM THE DESIGN PHASE THROUGH TO SUPPLY AND CONSTRUCTION. AUSTRALIAN MINING DISCUSSES THE SCALE OF THESE PROJECTS WITH THE COMPANY’S CO-FOUNDER HAMISH WEBB.

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he scope and size of a mine site demands adequate infrastructure that helps operations run smoothly.

Activities that occur on the sideline, such as logistics, are the supporting pillars of the core mining operations happening in the pit.

With the constant push for increased productivity, mining vehicles are being designed with increased capacity.

XXL SHEDS, as the name implies, facilitates equipment maintenance by taking care of infrastructure projects from design phase through to supply and construction.

Australian Mining speaks with XXL SHEDS co-founder Hamish Webb about the company he started six years ago.

What was the idea behind XXL SHEDS?

My father and I founded XXL SHEDS in 2013. We identified an opportunity to diversify cold form steel designs into larger buildings.

With this concept, we entered the market with success that led us to set up a construction company. But the story didn’t end there. We came up with innovative designs, in which we could incorporate both hot rolled steels and cold form steels in our patented SMRT (Structural Member

Rafter Transition) hybrid portal system, maintaining engineering integrity but providing significant cost advantages for companies. It is welcomed in the United States and Australia. Beyond that, we also build buildings in Papua New Guinea.

What shift did you perceive in the sector when it comes to mining infrastructure?

Mining is a significant industry in Australia, and it requires infrastructure like warehouses and facilities – to service its vehicles or to house its processing plant. Large buildings like sheds are ideal. The scale of mining projects means the size of their equipment and requirements are generally well outside the standard available designs.

Our technology allows us to work with those sizes and provide an efficient outcome for them.

What are the latest infrastructure needs?

A continual advancement in mining equipment and machinery means things are getting bigger and better.

So does the traditional service bay or warehousing needed to accommodate that extra size? These massive trucks also need to be serviced with their trays lifted during maintenance.

That can go up to 20 metres high.

This pushes the boundaries of shed AUSTRALIANMINING

capacities, but we can meet this need.

We’re able to build a shed up to that scale. We’re building one now in Boggabri and we know there are more opportunities out there.

How do you cater to remote mine sites?

We’ve got supplier-partners around Australia. We relocate to sites once it’s time to build. We have no hesitation going to the site to work through any problems, provide recommendations and understand their need to help with the design process.

Is your approach different to the traditional design pathway?

There are thousands of sheds companies in Australia and most of them are affiliated or owned by rollformers. They’re risk averse and limited to their standard designs.

Our concept was to begin where they finish. We do the next level up from the end design they can offer.

That was the gap in the market and the opportunity existed for us to provide cost effective, turnkey solutions. Our client can come to us with an idea, and we can assist them from design right through to building and completion. It’s different to how it traditionally works in the market.

Companies usually have to go to a design consultant, who will engage a design engineer and consult

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other advisors. They then go to the market for a supplier tender. All of a sudden, you’re spending hundreds of thousands of dollars before you reach construction phase.

In contrary, we look after the whole process, streamlining it and helping save companies time and money.

What do people often overlook in an infrastructure project?

The structure above the ground isn’t the only important thing. It’s also the structure below the ground. When trucks go through maintenance, they’re lifted up, so there’s potentially 170 tonnes of load in one particular area of the concrete. Our approach boils down to understanding what the purpose of the building is and designing it for purpose from the ground up, and we can cater to this situation.

Equipment like Caterpillar D11 dozers also come with grousers. In this context, we can embed railway steel in the concrete slab. And when the machine goes into the sheds, it won’t touch or damage the concrete.

This is because we sit down with a company, start with a blank piece of paper and ask questions such as, ‘What do you really need?’, ‘What vehicles are you servicing?’, ‘What are you housing?’, ‘What are the turning circles?’ Based on this, we can come up with the most efficient design possible. AM

DIGITAL MINING

INEIGHT SOLUTION DRIVES MORE REALISTIC SCHEDULING THROUGH LEVERAGING OF HISTORICAL DATA ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, THE CORE DRIVER OF INEIGHT SCHEDULE, HELPS SCHEDULERS DRIVE PLAN REALISM AND OPTIMISE OUTCOMES. AUSTRALIAN MINING REPORTS.

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here are many ways of optimising a mining operation, with realistic and achievable scheduling standing out as having a particularly crucial impact on a mine site, equipment resources and infrastructure from start to finish.

InEight executive vice president, Asia Pacific, Rob Bryant says mining operations typically involve capable individuals with many years of experience, but one of the biggest challenges they face is capturing reliable information and using it to achieve better outcomes.

Exploration, for example, requires the wise coordination of a lot of resources, making the project schedule and its credibility even more important.

This is the type of information that mining companies can use throughout the entire life cycle of an operation.

The evaluation of cost and schedule risk during the exploration phase is critical in determining project feasibility.

That information is continuous in nature, and forms part of the company’s ever-expanding knowledge library

through the life cycle of an asset.

“A mining operation is a very dynamic asset. There’s always going to be work being done, whether it’s expanding the mine site or maintaining the operations and infrastructure,” Bryant tells Australian Mining.

“You need to continue capturing data all the way through the operational phase to maximise the return and efficiency of the operation.

Further down the track, this data will also assist in future projects.”

A planner can’t decipher an activity at each data point in isolation. That information needs to be gathered to establish the full context.

This allows a mining construction schedule, for instance, to accurately align with the delivery of material with the resources on-site.

“A good scheduling solution should ensure that you don’t have isolated activities, where you have resources on-site but not the materials, or vice versa,” Bryant says.

This is where InEight Schedule comes in. This software is able to quickly access historical data points from the solution’s knowledge library, then share the information across one

entire platform so it can be applied to decision-making.

Schedule leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to offer true datadriven insights into an operation or asset’s past performance, allowing planners to learn from historical information and use it to influence today’s decision making, Bryant says.

Suggestions and scenarios generated by the tool are then vetted by team members, and their feedback scored accordingly, adding an element of human intelligence to bolster computer-generated knowledge.

Bryant refers to this combination of artificial and human intelligence as “augmented intelligence” and says it elevates InEight Schedule above run-

IT IS HUMAN NATURE FOR PLANNERS TO BE MORE OPTIMISTIC THAN THEY SHOULD BE. AFTER ALL, THEY WANT A PROJECT TO BE A SUCCESS.”

INEIGHT SCHEDULE HELPS PLANNERS CREATE REALISTIC AND RISK-ADJUSTED PLANS. AUSTRALIANMINING

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of-the-mill planning programs.

“At the heart of today’s software innovation is the notion of giving context through this process of augmented intelligence, storing the generated information in the tool’s knowledge library and placing it in context for a particular project stage that is currently in schedule,” Bryant says.

“Typically, we see cost overruns and project blowouts due to overly ambitious expectations during the planning stage of the project. It is human nature for planners to be more optimistic than they should be. After all, they want a project to be a success.

“InEight Schedule represents a leveller in that respect by suggesting a logical timeframe based on knowledge acquired in past projects. It has the intelligence to produce a realistic alternative, to be supplemented by team expertise.”

This prevents companies from entering projects with unrealistic expectations of the time required to pull off an exercise with inadequate resources, according to Bryant.

The mining and resources industry is better disciplined than the construction sector in that respect, he continues.

“Mining companies understand it’s about finding the one deposit in five that’s going to be feasible and deliver long-term returns, so they understand there is an arduous process and great risk involved in entering the design stage,” Bryant says.

Scheduling is an exercise with consequences that span the entire asset life cycle, and InEight aims to provide mining operators with more insight through this advanced solution.

InEight Schedule enables different people to input their schedules at any time while the operation keeps moving.

Having a system that captures all that information and makes it part of the mine owner’s intellectual property is invaluable for use in benchmarking future projects and optimising project outcomes from start to finish. AM

MEASUREMENT & MONITORING

THORPE TO CONTINUE MCCURDY LEGACY AT PDS HAVING A CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LATE FORMER PDS DIRECTOR, PETER MCCURDY, IT IS ON SLIGHTLY BITTERSWEET TERMS THAT PETER THORPE TAKES ON THE ROLE OF PDS GENERAL MAANAGER. HE IS HOWEVER EXCITED TO CONTINUE A VISION TO GROW THE COMPANY IN 2020.

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eter Thorpe fondly remembers Peter McCurdy trying to get him to join the PDS team for many years before he took up the role in October 2019 after the tragic passing of McCurdy earlier that year.

“I’d been keeping in contact with (McCurdy) and the business over the last two years,” Thorpe tells Australian Mining. “He’d been trying to get me onboard for many years.”

After McCurdy passed away, Thorpe stayed close to the business, offering his condolences to McCurdy’s family and giving advice and assistance where possible to the PDS staff.

Later in the year, Thorpe felt the time was right to follow his friend’s legacy and join the Newcastle-based condition monitoring business.

Thorpe brings with him a diverse background, having spent 15 years in the Royal Australian Air Force, in aircraft and maintenance engineering, before finishing up in the nondestructive inspection area.

Following his time in the Air Force, Thorpe moved into the petrochemical industry, working in non-destructive testing, as well as the oil and gas sector.

From there, Thorpe found his new home in mining, where he used his non-destructive testing skills gained during his time in aviation and

FORMER PDS GENERAL MANAGER, THE LATE PETER MCCURDY.

NEW PDS GENERAL MANAGER PETER THORPE.

petrochemical work.

“In 2004, I started my own business with three partners, which was sold to Fenner Dunlop in 2007,” he says.

Thorpe then had a three-anda-half-year stint at conveyor belt splicing equipment specialist Shaw Almex, before being recruited by materials handling business ESS Engineering.

Two years on and Thorpe is taking on another career change, picking up PDS where McCurdy left off and heading into the new decade with an innovative vision.

Data integration, automated

ONCE YOU’VE GOT OUR PROCESSES IN PLACE, INSPECTIONS ARE CLEARLY SPELT OUT AND CAN BE CARRIED OUT BY (ALMOST) ANYONE, SO OUR SOFTWARE PROVIDES THE FOUNDATION TO COMPLETING HIGHER LEVEL INSPECTIONS WITH LESS INTRUSIONS ON PRODUCTION.” monitoring and growing its assets within the mining industry are all on the horizon for PDS in 2020.

“PDS prides itself on being at the forefront of preventative maintenance,” Thorpe says.

“If you’re doing preventative maintenance you have less unscheduled failures, which can cause both personal and property risk.

“By automating the process you’re removing some of those risks to personnel as well as their business.”

PDS is reaching the first release stage for supplier integration for preventative maintenance

PDS PLANNED INSPECTIONS SOFTWARE IN USE.

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inspections, which can assist to monitor information from integral components on an asset.

“PDS Planned Inspections provides accountability and quality assurance for installations and inspections, it provides a high-level standardised process,” Thorpe explains.

“Once you’ve got our processes in place, inspections are clearly spelt out and can be carried out by (almost) anyone, so our software provides the foundation to completing higher level inspections with less intrusions on production.”

Thorpe also aims to automate the process of monitoring wear, making it easier to analyse internal mechanisms of machinery such as conveyor belts, crushers and grinders, drawing from data to assess life.

“We’re working with several of our customers to interface their processes,” Thorpe says.

“There are quite a number of projects on the go moving into next year, it’s all very exciting, because you’re able to do higher level, realtime inspections.”

While Thorpe is drawing on his diverse personal experience, he is grateful to the team at PDS for their hard work in keeping the business going after McCurdy’s passing.

“Credit should be given to all of the PDS employees for stepping up after Peter McCurdy passed away, they all deserve a big pat on the back,” Thorpe says.

Now PDS is back to business as usual with a new leader at its helm, Thorpe is looking forward to continuing to develop systems and techniques to stay at the forefront of the industry.

“Like any software company, we’re always upgrading to keep up with environmental changes to iOS, Android and Web interfaces,” Thorpe continues.

“They upgrade and change product elements all the time and that’s what we need to do for our key customers too.

“We want to be the standard in asset management and are forging ahead as a leader in this field, continuing the legacy Peter McCurdy dreamt of.” AM

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MINING INFRASTRUCTURE

CRUSADER HOSE TAKES MINING EXPERTISE TO SOUTH AUSTRALIAN WATER PROJECT THE COMPANY IS HELPING SUPPLY MUCH-NEEDED WATER TO THE NORTHERN ADELAIDE PLAINS WITH ITS LAYFLAT TECHNOLOGY. AUSTRALIAN MINING WRITES. FLEXIBORE MAKES TRANSPORTATION AND INSTALLATION IN REMOTE SITES EASY.

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rusader Hose has played a key part in building water treatment facilities in Adelaide in a project that is backed by $155.6 million in funding from state and federal governments.

The project adds 12 gigalitres of reclaimed water to the Northern Adelaide Plains, a 60 per cent increase in the production of recycled irrigation water suitable for food production.

Once completed, high value crops from the fertile Northern Adelaide Plains will be exported from South Australia.

Crusader Hose lends the expertise it acquired in the mining and defence sectors to the project, by pumping water into large storage dams from 10 bores around the Bolivar precinct, all using submersible pumps and layflat hose Flexibore.

The project has proven Crusader Hose’s significant capability and services for a variety of industries, including the mining sector.

“This is a flagship project for our company,” Francois Steverlynck, managing director of Flexibore

manufacturer Crusader Hose, says.

“We have worked closely with Leed Valoriza (Leed Engineering and Construction and its joint venture partner Valoriza Agua), the major contractor, to deliver a very technical solution in rapid time.”

Leed Valoriza project engineer, Sam Doolette is impressed with the service and support the team received from Crusader Hose.

“We had (Steverlynck) come over from Melbourne to assist with the submersible bore pump installation,” Doolette says.

“We were very pleased to see how easy the pumps could be installed using Flexibore and after completing the first one, we scheduled the rest to be installed at two per day.”

The team commenced final commissioning for the end of September 2019, and by ramping up it supplies consistent water flow that is completely independent of how much rain it gets, or how full the Murray River is.

Doolette says this will provide both certainty and higher quality water.

Crusader Hose developed Flexibore in 1991 in Australia to meet the market AUSTRALIANMINING

IT IS WONDERFUL WHEN WE ALL WORK SMARTLY TOGETHER TO DELIVER PROJECTS… AS THIS WILL CONTINUE TO BENEFIT GENERATIONS OF AUSTRALIANS.” needs for a riser pipe that could be corrosion-free, easy to install and never clogged up by iron bacteria – the criteria of a successful mine dewatering application.

The pulsating movement allowed

by Flexibore during pumping is responsible for preventing a build-up of iron bacteria inside the hose.

Crusader Hose’s Flexibore 250 series, which is available up to 200 millimetres in internal diameter, can go more than 200 metres underground due to its tensile strength and capability to take in high pressure.

The pump is lowered into the bore using either a simple rolling wheel or a crane, thanks to customised stainless couplings that are specifically developed to ensure the performance and security of its entire system.

Finally, the layflat nature of Flexibore promises easy transportation to mine sites, which are often remote

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and off-grid, without needing multiple truck loads or as much labour to install compared with rigid hose systems.

It is no surprise Crusader Hose has grown to be the preferred supplier at mining projects that require groundwater pumping. Flexibore can meet the volume and pressure needed in the transfer of most liquids, including waste water and fuel.

With all of its manufacturing undertaken in Melbourne, Crusader Hose can provide pumping solutions in minimum time.

“Australia has a clean and green image, cultivated over years of managing our resources responsibly,” Steverlynck says.

“It is wonderful when we all work smartly together to deliver projects such as Northern Adelaide Irrigation Scheme (NAIS) as this will continue to benefit generations of Australians.” AM

WORKFORCE MANAGMENT

MOUNT GIBSON IRON’S DIVERSE TEAM OF SHIPLOADERS AT THE KOOLAN ISLAND OPERATION IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA. IMAGE: MOUNT GIBSON IRON

MID-TIER MINERS MAKE PROGRESS WITH DIVERSITY GENDER DIVERSITY IS AT THE TOP OF THE AGENDA FOR MANY FIRMS, NOT AS A SOCIETAL OBLIGATION BUT BECAUSE OF THE REAL VALUE IT DELIVERS. AUSTRALIAN MINING WRITES.

I

mproved workforce diversity is widely recognised as delivering long-term benefits to companies across all industries.

Ernst & Young has reported that diversity is a proven contributor to team efficiency, success and decision making.

Gender equality not only delivers value to the workplace here and now, according to EY’s ‘Women in Business’ report, but it also addresses one of the root causes of

the disparity, by promoting more science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education for girls.

This is true for mining companies which are paying heightened attention to workforce diversity, ranking it as high as digitalisation and environmental sustainability.

BHP has taken diversity as seriously as any mining company; three years ago, the company publicly put forward an ambitious 50:50 gender balance target for its AUSTRALIANMINING

workforce by 2025.

The company’s declaration of this goal was a bold move that many were sceptical of at the time.

In 2016, the mining industry only had 16 per cent female representation, with BHP slightly above this average with 17.6 per cent, according to BHP group procurement officer Sundeep Singh.

He says the company’s reason to go after this target was simple: “It was good for business,” Singh says at the 2019 International Mining and

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Resources Conference (IMARC).

“Our data shows that more inclusive and diverse teams outperform others on safety, productivity and culture.”

The company’s data, such as a 67 per cent reduction in injury rates, an 11 per cent improved adherence to schedule, a 28 per cent decrease in unplanned absences and a 21 per cent increase in pride in work, backs Singh’s reasoning.

BHP’s journey continues to gather momentum. By 2019, women

WORKFORCE MANAGMENT

represented nearly 24.5 per cent of the company’s workforce, a 7 per cent improvement since the target was announced.

Fortescue Metals Group is another leading company just as vocal about its path to a diverse workforce – more than half of the iron ore miner’s board is now represented by females.

In August 2019, Fortescue also signed a pledge with non-profit organisation Parity.org, signifying its commitment to workplace diversity.

As part of the Parity Pledge, Fortescue is required to interview at least one qualified woman for every executive position. The pledge is designed to bring gender parity to the highest levels of a company.

Elizabeth Gaines, the first female chief executive appointed by Fortescue, agrees the best results come from a diverse workforce.

“We want to ensure that as many women as possible have the opportunity to participate and make a strong contribution to the Australian resources sector,” Gaines says.

Majors like BHP and Fortescue may be leading the diversity charge, but smaller companies should not feel exempt from moving in this direction too.

Adaptive Resourcing, a Perthbased recruitment outsourcer and talent advisory firm works with a number of junior and mid-tier miners.

The company’s director and practice lead, minerals and energy, Matt Stidwill says that improved workforce diversity is on the agenda with companies of all sizes.

The former BHP and Newmont talent lead believes a diversity agenda is often misconceived as a big and time-consuming task.

This has led small- to mediumsized companies thinking there are things they can’t do right now to create a diverse workforce.

“You don’t have to be a giant company to develop a diverse workforce,” Stidwill says. “There are lots of things that they can do to achieve the same goal.”

BHP and Fortescue, for example, have exemplified workforce diversity through simple means of including both their Indigenous and female employees in their media.

Such approach can be adopted by mining companies of all sizes.

“People confuse diversity with a five-year plan of mindset and culture change, but they can really start with simple things,” Stidwill says.

“A good diversity agenda in a recruitment process makes candidates feel important based on merits and skills, while also meeting

the company’s diversity goals.

“The worst thing you can say to female hires is that they’re being considered for a particular role because of their gender.”

Adaptive Resourcing has established a three-point plan that includes “quick wins” that assists companies of all sizes to achieve a diverse workforce.

“There are plenty of things smaller mining companies can do to ensure they are encouraging a diverse workforce and they need not necessarily be significant in time or cost,” Stidwill says.

“From an attraction perspective, it is important that companies understand their own employee value proposition (EVP) and can effectively portray that EVP to a diverse audience.

“There are many simple steps that mining juniors can look at in this regard: Is the imagery correct? Does your website and advertising show a male dominated industry?

“Do you advertise in the areas that don’t just appeal to men? Do your campaigns use language that only appeals to men?

“And from a selection perspective, do your employees understand the

PEOPLE CONFUSE DIVERSITY WITH A FIVE-YEAR PLAN OF MINDSET AND CULTURE CHANGE, BUT THEY CAN REALLY START WITH SIMPLE THINGS.” importance of diversity? Are your recruiters trained to ask appropriate questions?

“Do your recruiters do their best to add diverse candidates to every shortlist and then ensure hiring managers know why? There are, of course, many more strategies that assist companies in meeting these very necessary targets.”

In addition to mandating diversity in BHP’s own operations, the company works with its supply chain to promote diversity and guide its suppliers in this direction.

The major miner, understanding the influence it can have throughout the mining supply chain, includes greater diversity as a condition in its contracts with suppliers across its global operations.

“We partner with organisations like MEGT, an Australian non-profit organisation that supports local employers, apprentices and trainees, which now makes sure women represent 40 per cent of suitable

ADAPTIVE RESOURCING BELIEVES A DIVERSE WORKING GROUP OF PEOPLE IS A BETTER PERFORMING GROUP OF PEOPLE. IMAGE: MOUNT GIBSON IRON

AUSTRALIANMINING

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applicants,” Singh says.

“Again, it’s a commitment from both organisations and it’s been written into our contracts.”

Like larger miners and their Tier 1 suppliers, Stidwill says smaller companies like Mount Gibson Iron are instilling transformative ways to improve their workforce flexibility to support the move to a diverse workforce.

As well as recruiting for all vacancies at Mount Gibson Iron’s Koolan Island Operation, Adaptive Resourcing is partnering with its progressive human resources and leadership team to not only implement attraction and selection strategies that encourage a more diverse workforce, but also to generate onsite buy-in at a supervisor level.

“It’s all about creating a level of awareness as to why this is so important. A diverse workforce reaps better business results,” Stidwill concludes. AM

, D E E N U T. O Y E R R E ER N. V E F O T N A O H IS H W D IT RC A N I E F ES TH

RELY ON AUSTRALIA’S MANUFACTURING, MINING AND INDUSTRIAL HUB 70,000 monthly users can’t be wrong. Find what you’re looking for with over 12,000 business listings and 8,000 specific product listings. Access relevant information and resources, empowering you to make a qualified purchase decision. You can always rely on your industry hub.

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DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

GOLD INDUSTRY GROUP SPARKS ALL-IMPORTANT DEBATE IS A DIVERSITY DEBATE THAT BEGINS AND ENDS WITH GENDER DOOMED TO FAIL? LEADERS FROM GOLD ROAD RESOURCES, NEWCREST MINING, KIRKLAND LAKE GOLD AND AGORA FINANCIAL AUSTRALIA WEIGH IN. GOLD ROAD RESOURCES GENERAL MANAGER – CAPABILITY AND CULTURE STUART JENNER.

T

he problem with gender diversity in the mining industry has nothing to do with the “why” but everything to do with the “how,” the 2019 Gold Industry Group gender diversity debate has decided.

When a gender diversity agenda is translated poorly to a site, it could lead to resistance from workers.

Kirkland Lake Gold environment and community manager Felicia Binks says gender diversity has become an overused term in the mining sector.

This has caused some people to be less willing to engage in diversity programs, as Binks has witnessed in her own field, an area far away from the world of human resources and culture management.

“We have a responsibility to disrupt backlash before diversity loses its essence,” Binks tells an attendance of about 100 people.

GIG held the debate in Melbourne for the first time last November, asking leaders from Gold Road Resources, Newcrest Mining, Kirkland Lake Gold and Agora Financial Australia: “Is a diversity debate that begins and ends with gender doomed to fail?”

“When your rhetoric outplaces action, people become tired, and seeing constant messaging without seeing long-term results also causes fatigue,” Binks says.

Referring to statistics from 2018, Binks points out that only 16.7 per cent of people employed in the mining industry are female.

Of this 16.7 per cent, only 18 per cent of women hold senior management positions and only 15 per cent hold executive positions.

“Although we have made some progress, this progress is really, really slow. When you focus on only gender diversity and there’s slow progress, people get fatigued,” Binks says.

Binks suggests company leaders should include more than just males and females in their diversity agenda and be more sophisticated in their approach.

But in the perspective of Newcrest Mining principle, diversity and inclusion Giulia Savio, fighting for positive change should never cause fatigue.

“Would you ever be tired of talking about safety? Would you ever be tired of talking about sustainability?

I’m here to tell you, I am not tired of talking about what is right,” Savio says.

AUSTRALIANMINING

“Of the other minority groups; LBGTIQI+, those with disabilities, neurodiversity as well as cultural and ethnicity groups, what do you think one of every two of those are?

“Female. If just over 50 per cent of the population are women; why not start there, and how wonderful if we tick some other boxes to improve the situation of other minorities on the way?”

If it weren’t for the gender diversity agenda, maternity and paternity leave would not have been introduced into the workplace and benefitted both men and women today, according to Savio.

Her debate partner, Agora Financial

Australia chief editor Shae Russell, believes the fact that they’re still having a debate on whether gender diversity has come far enough reveals that people need to continue having this conversation.

Females make up less than 20 per cent of employment in the mining industry, Russell reinforces.

“I’m a single mum, I have two children, one with autism,” she says.

“That technically puts me in the ‘too hard’ basket to hire, yet I outwork most of my co-workers, mostly men.

I’ve also worked out how to do my job more efficiently because of my diverse background.

“Let’s use that power and that momentum to look at other races, religious minorities, neurological differences, sexual identities, socioeconomic differences.”

Though diversity is more than one or two dimensional, Gold Road general manager for capability and culture Stuart Jenner admits that Russell’s opinion completely contradicts his.

He says overcomplication of gender quotas can prevent opportunities for other minority groups.

“As a society, we need to do more.

As a mining industry, we can do a lot more,” Jenner says.

This is taken in an entirely different light by the opposing team, which believes the sector should join the momentum of the gender equality fight to larger areas.

Indeed, a diversity debate beginning and ending with gender is not doomed to fail. The crowd backs this up and cheers Savio and Russell to victory. AM

MELBOURNE INDUSTRY PARTICIPANTS GIVE A SHOW OF HANDS, INDICATING THEIR SUPPORT FOR GENDER DIVERSITY.

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PRODUCTS

SANDVIK EXPANDS 800i SERIES OF PREMIUM CONE CRUSHERS Sandvik has enlarged its 800i series family of connected cone crushers to include three high-performance models, Sandvik CH830i, CH840i and CS840i.

Each crusher comes with the new automation and connectivity system (ACS) as a standard.

The system continuously monitors and optimises crusher performance and controls the complete lubrication system, increasing uptime and reliability.

The cone crushers also feature mechanical upgrades, connectivity and advanced automation, rebuilding possibilities to predict performance, maximise uptime and improve sustainability at the lowest possible cost.

All 800i crushers are connected to the My Sandvik portal, allowing managers and operators to access and manage vital information ahead of decision making.

“My Sandvik is the first major step in gaining insights into productivity and predictive maintenance that will drive our industry forward,” Sandvik vice president lifecycle service Mats Dahlberg said.

“It’s great to offer our customers a service that will truly make a difference to their profitability.”

DELTA CHANGES THE GAME IN LUBRICATION Not many lubricators can tick as many boxes as GreaseMax does.

GreaseMax automatic lubricators provide efficient pump-set lubrication with enhanced reliability.

It can be used on both pump bearings and mechanical seals, which stay in optimum operational condition with continuous lubrication.

Packed seal performance is also improved with GreaseMax lubrication.

The lubricators operate in hot, cold, wet or vibrating conditions. They can even be submerged.

GreaseMax has the capacity to pump through long feed lines which are often required. Remote mounting allows unit change-overs to be done without stopping the plant or losing production.

The lubricators are also proven to increase electric motor bearing life with continuous lubricant application.

• dis.com.au

• rocktechnology.sandvik

INTOV8 KEEPS TRACK OF RESOURCES 24/7

EPIROC AND ORICA TO JOINTLY DELIVER BLAST AUTOMATION

Intov8 has developed a mobile application, Corvus Live Monitor to view and manage data from the field with ease.

Using onboard navigation (GPS), Corvus Live Monitor allows users to view the status of their resources and identify their exact location.

The application is ideal for resource live status tracking and provides regular updates.

Corvus Live Monitor integrates with Intov8’s other Corvus products and source systems, including Corvus Wall app.

It allows users to plan and action data across multiple time spans – daily, weekly, monthly or yearly.

The integrated mobile app features live chat functionality to provide users with updates from team members in the pit – all visible on the dashboard in the control room.

Orica and Epiroc Rock Drills are partnering to develop a semiautomated explosives delivery system.

This is designed to assist operators in increasingly hazardous and challenging underground operations, with mines going deeper and ore bodies becoming more remote.

The partnership will leverage Orica’s exclusive wireless initiating system WebGen to deliver the critical first steps towards the automation of drill and blast operations.

“Automation is a key pillar of our technology strategy and supports our vision of transforming drill and blast to unlock mining value by creating safer and more sustainable operations,” Orica chief commercial and technology officer Angus Melbourne said.

The first prototype system is expected this year, with the first commercially available systems entering service in 2021.

• intov8.com.au

• epiroc.com

AUSTRALIANMINING

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PRODUCTS

BOLLÉ SAFETY RELEASES PRESCRIPTION SAFETY GLASSES

TSI INCORPORATED ENABLES PERSONAL EXPOSURE MONITORING UNDERGROUND

Bollé Safety has unveiled BAXTER RX, a sealed model of safety glasses that offers total comfort thanks to it being a wrap-around frame.

With its waterproof foam and ingenious system for attaching the strap, BAXTER RX offers effective protection from sprays of solids, liquids and from dust.

Available with Trivex and Polycarbonate prescription lenses, this model comes fully assembled with gasket and strap and is certified to medium impact standards.

BAXTER RX is ideal for humid and dusty environments and is also available in plano if vision correction is not required.

Bollé Safety prescription safety glasses are available through the manufacturer’s Excellence program.

The wearable SidePak AM520i personal aerosol monitor from TSI uses photometric technology to measure airborne particles in a wearer’s breathing zone.

It can measure particulate mass, including PM10, PM4 (respirable), PM2.5, PM1 and PM0.8 (diesel particulate matter exposures).

The SidePak AM520i is the smallest, lightest real-time personal exposure monitor on the global market with a certified intrinsically safe design for use in underground mines.

The device enables data-logging, and its long-running batteries are certified for use in environments requiring intrinsically safe tools.

“We are pleased to announce IECEx certification for the SidePak AM520i, which is now approved for use in Australia’s underground mines,” TSI business director Troy Tillman said.

“TSI customers around the world use SidePak Monitors to measure personal dust exposure in real-time, helping to identify and monitor coal dust and silica exposure.”

• bollesafety.com.au

• tsi.com

3M EXTENDS HELMET COMFORT AND PROTECTION

MICROMINE INTRODUCES MICROMINE 2020

The 3M Speedglas heavy-duty welding helmet G5-01 with Adflo powered air respirator gives welders the ultimate comfort and protection.

This fifth generation of Speedglas welding helmets introduces the latest in welding lens technology, combined with powered air respiratory protection and flip-front functionality for grinding.

The helmet features game-changing technology including variable, climate flow control, optional task light and Bluetooth connectivity.

It can therefore be customised to each individual welding environment.

Micromine 2020 covers all areas of mine design and planning, from intuitive charting, 3D visualisations, rapid geological modelling to precision planning.

It builds on MICROMINE’s already popular 3D mine design and planning solution, which is used in over 90 countries, with new value-add features and optimised workflows and functionality.

A central feature of Micromine 2020 is the stope optimisation tool, which allows planners to generate optimal stope outlines to meet design and economic parameters.

For open pit miners, the stope optimiser can also generate the optimum dig lines to suit minimum mining widths, according to MICROMINE technical product manager Gordon Thomas.

The addition of new implicit modelling tools for geological modelling is another key upgrade promising to make Micromine 2020 users’ workflows even more efficient and reliable.

This implicit modelling module can speed up the domain modelling process by 100 times compared with manual sectional modelling, while ensuring an accurate result.

• awsi.com.au

• micromine.com

AUSTRALIANMINING

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EVENTS

CONFERENCES, SEMINARS & WORKSHOPS EVENT SUBMISSIONS CAN BE EMAILED TO EDITOR@AUSTRALIANMINING.COM.AU AusIMM’s International Women’s Day event series, Australia, March 2-10 AusIMM’s International Women’s Day (IWD) event series will include exciting keynote speakers Julie Bishop and Kirstin Ferguson.

The series will be held in six capital cities during March with former foreign minister Julie Bishop speaking at the Perth event and ABC deputy chair Kirstin Ferguson speaking in Brisbane.

Their presentations will align with the 2020 IWD theme ‘Each for Equal’ and will empower attendees as the sector collectively strives to achieve gender balance and improve the experience of women in mining.

AusIMM will be celebrating the achievements of women in mining at the IWD events in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Hobart.

• iwd.ausimm.com Global Iron Ore and Steel Forecast Conference, Perth, March 18-19 The 23rd annual Global Iron Ore and Steel Forecast Conference will flesh out the latest outlook for iron ore and steel demand and supply.

Learn from industry leaders as they discuss their future plans, and the opportunities and challenges that lay ahead.

The conference will focus on exploring the iron ore boom 2.0, with numerous new mine and expansion projects injecting hundreds of millions of dollars into the Pilbara region.

Key topics for discussion include creating value in a changing market, China’s changing iron ore demands, project updates and expansion plans, innovation

and automation, reducing energy costs and managing the second iron ore boom.

• informa.com.au Lithium and Battery Metals Conference, Perth, March 18-19 Following its inaugural event in 2018, the Lithium and Battery Metals Conference is back in 2020, hosting a comprehensive two-day summit, featuring in-depth analysis of current and future markets, updates from battery metals projects large and small, commentary from government officials and industry experts, and an increased focus on Australia’s downstream value add potential.

While opinion is divided on whether the battery metals market will see over or undersupply, more and more companies are doubling down and looking to tap into the lucrative downstream processing markets.

This event will be co-located at the same time as the 23rd Global Iron Ore and Steel Forecast Conference.

• informa.com.au Underground Operators 2020, Perth, March 25-27 AusIMM will bring mining engineers, mine operators, technical service managers and consultants together at the Underground Operators Conference in 2020.

This conference will set the benchmark for sharing underground operational experiences and the best industry practices.

Underground Operators 2020 will answer to the pressing issues presented by deposits that are getting deeper or

AUSTRALIANMINING

lower in grade, and operators facing increased pressure to find smarter and more cost-effective ways to extract orebodies.

The key discussion topics for this conference will centre around the evolution of digital technologies, automation and artificial intelligence, and how these innovations are providing solutions to challenges found underground.

• undergroundoperators.ausimm.com MEGATRANS, Melbourne, April 1-3 MEGATRANS returns in 2020 to facilitate cross-industry collaboration in a multidimensional and integrated conference and exhibition for the freight and logistics industry.

For the first time, MEGATRANS2020 will take place in conjunction with the specialised bulk handling expo, Australian Bulk Handling Expo 2020. The two events will be held side-by-side, with one ticket entry into both exhibitions.

MEGATRANS2020 will showcase the latest in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, automated racking, telematics and route optimisation, warehouse automation, intelligent fleet systems, blockchain, Internet of Things, big data and advanced analytics.

• megatrans.com.au Diggers and Dealers Mining Forum, Kalgoorlie, August 3-5 This annual conference brings together mining and exploration companies, brokers, bankers, investors, financiers and mining service industries into Australia’s unofficial gold mining capital, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.

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The event combines presentations by listed mining and exploration companies with a large display area, housing a range of exhibitors from within the sector.

Diggers and Dealers also features a world-class entertainment program, including a keynote address from a high-profile speaker, who is yet to be announced. Previous keynote speakers include former Prime Minister John Howard and British economist and public servant Mervyn King.

It is also possible to visit sites within the Goldfields region before or during the conference by contacting companies directly.

• diggersndealers.com.au MINExpo International, Las Vegas, September 28-30 MINExpo International is the world’s largest and most comprehensive global mining event.

Held every four years, MINExpo brings together worldwide industry leaders who are ready to purchase the latest equipment and services, see innovative new technologies, meet face-to-face with vendors and make valuable new connections.

The expo showcases all of the latest cutting-edge equipment, innovations, services and technologies to take your operations to a new level and fuel longterm growth.

MINExpo attendees have the buying power and influence to purchase the equipment, products and services that are brought to the show. In just three days, meet thousands of mine operators from all over the world – all in one place.

• minexpo.com

Experience the Progress.

Liebherr T 264 – Technology for Your Excellence • • • • •

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Liebherr-Australia Pty Ltd | Head Office 1 Dr. Willi Liebherr Drive, Para Hills West South Australia 5096 P: (08) 8344 0200, F: (08) 8359 4311 www.liebherr.com.au, E: info.las@liebherr.com